Harlow and District Chamber of Commerce

***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

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