Next steps for developing the UK’s drone sector - innovation, safety and regulation, and latest on commercial and public sector applications
***Full-scale policy conference taking place online***
This conference will examine the future of the commercial drone market.
The discussion at a glance:
- product innovation - including latest developments in commercial use cases, such as delivery, logistics and infrastructure surveying
- safety and risk mitigation - priorities for innovation, airspace integration and traffic management, and insurance
- regulation - the UK and European frameworks, issues and effectiveness, and enforcement powers
- support - what the sector needs most, including in terms fo policy, funding, regulation, and in R&D
- engagement - increasing public trust in drones amongst the public, policymakers and elsewhere in business
Keynote Speakers
Andrew Hamilton
Director of Operations, Crowded Space Drones
Rosanna Thomson
Head of Drones Policy and Legislation, Department for Transport
Andrew Sage
Head of Unified Traffic Management, NATS
Chief Inspector Simon Bachelor
Legislation and Policy Lead,
Counter Drones, National Police Chiefs’ Council
Chairs
The Rt Hon. the Lord Wallace of Tankerness
Vice Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Drones
Lord Rosser
Shadow Spokesperson, Home Affairs, and Shadow Spokesperson, Transport, House of Lords (subject to parliamentary business)
The agenda:
- The future of commercial drone operations - latest developments in materials and technology, and current and future
- use cases for unmanned aircraft
- Next steps for developing regulatory frameworks for unmanned air operations in the UK - ensuring safety and enabling
- innovation
- Achieving the safe integration of drone operations in UK airspace
- Assessing and mitigating the key risks associated with drones and developing public trust - security, privacy and
- insurance
- Priorities for policy in the regulation of unmanned aircraft in the UK - key aims of the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill
- Case study: utilising the capability of drones in law enforcement and police operations
The discussion in detail:
The market
- potential growth areas - use cases for drones and aerial robotics technology being developed
and rolled out across industry and public services
- innovation - examining advances in aerial robotics technology and their implications, including in
batteries and motors, as well as control
software and automation
- making drone usage routine - including increasing the availability of qualified pilots,
and developing and maturing leasing and hiring arrangements
Regulation
- keeping pace - ensuring that policy and regulation can accommodate more sophisticated use cases for drones
- for example tackling the real-time risk mitigation and notification requirements to
enable complex operations such as
drone swarms and beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flight
- airspace management - what more may be needed to enable routine drone flying in controlled and uncontrolled airspace
- notification and clearance requirements
- risk mitigation - priorities for creating equivalent to the see-and-avoid procedure
used by manned aircraft
-
- future proofing - preparing for possible advanced use cases such as the use of
drones for logistics and parcel delivery
- standards - design and introduction of electronic conspicuity for commercial drones,
and further potential measures to mitigate risk
- insurance - developments in products specified for the drone industry,
looking at design and marketing, quantifying risk, and the potential
for pay-as-you-fly
Enforcement
- effectiveness - impact of measures in the Air Traffic Management and
Unmanned Aircraft Bill including greater enforcement powers
for police forces in tackling negligent or malicious drone flying
- next steps - the UK Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Strategy and further options
for policy to tackle illegal drone flying and the misuse of drones
Trust and sector support
- research and development - what more is needed from policymakers and
regulators to support the development of drone technologies in the UK
- engagement strategies - priorities for increasing trust in drones and counteracting
negative public perceptions, within the public, regulators and
policymakers, and with partners and other sectors
Developments that are relevant to the discussion:
- Unlocking the Power of Location: The UK’s geospatial strategy 2020 to 2025 - the
Government and Geospatial Commission identifying the potential
of drones to contribute to optimisation of logistics worth £2bn per year, with possibilities
- such as using satellite tracing to calculate single-flight drone
insurance premiums
- the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Bill - currently before Parliament
- European drones regulation - the new European drone rules drawn up by
European Union Aviation Safety Agency, scheduled for December 2020
- UK regulatory developments:
- the UK Drone and model aircraft registration and education service and
introduction of mandatory drone registration
-
- the CAA Drone and Model Aircraft Code
- the UK Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Strategy
- COVID-19 - drones playing a role during the crisis:
- monitoring and enforcement - of social distancing measures
- emergency logistics - with discussion around the potential to support authorities,
for example in aiding diagnoses and the
transfer of key supplies
-
- funding - backing for new trials from the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency
Policy officials attending:
Our forums are known for attracting strong interest from policymakers and stakeholders.
It’s certainly the case with this one. Places have been reserved by officials from BEIS; the Department for Transport; the Home Office;
the Ministry of Defence; HM Treasury; the DCMS; the Defence Airspace and Air Traffic Management;
the Military Aviation Authority Defence Safety Agency; the Department for International Trade; the European Space Agency;
the UK Space Agency; the Department of Health and Social Care; the Geospatial Commission; the Government Legal Department;
the Government Legal Profession; GCHQ; HM Revenue & Customs; the Health and Safety Executive;
the Maritime and Coastguard Agency; Marine Scotland; the National Crime Agency; and the Welsh Government.
This is a full-scale conference taking place online***
- full, four-hour programme including comfort breaks - you’ll also get a full recording to refer back to
- information-rich discussion involving key policymakers and stakeholders
- conference materials provided in advance, including speaker biographies
- speakers presenting via webcam, accompanied by slides if they wish, using the Cisco WebEx professional online
conference platform (easy for delegates - we’ll provide full details)
- opportunities for live delegate questions and comments with all speakers
- a recording of the addresses, all slides cleared by speakers, and further materials, is made available to all
delegates afterwards as a permanent record of the proceedings
- delegates are able to add their own written comments and articles following the conference, to be
distributed to all attendees and more widely
- networking too - there will be opportunities for delegates to e-meet and interact - we’ll tell you how!
Full information and guidance on how to take part will be sent to delegates before the conference
The event will start on: Tue 15 Sep 2020 - 9:00am
Venue: Online
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