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23 September 15:30

And that’s it, folks! A big THANK YOU for tuning in to our live blog from #DroneEnable, hope you enjoyed the coverage.

 

23 September 15:22

Another interesting reveal: ICAO’s UAS Advisory Group (UAS-AG) Chairman Doug Davis and Secretary Cliff Sweatte will lead the UAS-AG next week, beginning the process of defining a Global UTM framework to be rolled out at ICAO’s GANIS Symposium in December 2017!

Pssst: The GANIS Symposium is part of Air Navigation Week, also featuring the Safety and Air Navigation Implementation Symposium (SANIS). You can register for Air Navigation Week here.

 

23 September, 15:09

Stephen Creamer, Director @icao: All flying is aviation. #DroneEnable https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/8CZbOHqhFd

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 23, 2017

23 September, 15:04

Mr. Doug Davis, Chairman of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Advisory Group (UAS-AG):

We are in constant information-gathering mode[…] and in the next few days I think the beginnings of a framework will start to emerge.

23 September, 15:00

The panelists were asked to summarize some key points of their respective streams this morning.

Captain Denis Guindon, Director General, Aviation Oversight and Transformation, Transport Canada moderated the Communications Systems stream, and highlighted that regulators and stakeholders should work together. He also said creativity, social responsibility, and promoting the mitigation of risk were strong themes.

Ms. Tracy Lamb,  Vice President Regulatory and Safety Affairs – Chief Pilot, AUVSI, and moderator of the Geofencing-like systems stream, said the emerging common themes were a design for privacy, security and safety. She said there was emphasis on the accessibility and scalability of geofencing, referencing the concept of “geofencing for everyone,” comprised of systems that are open and globally interoperable while maintaining efficiency and affordability.

 

23 September 14:49

Experts from @icao @Transport_gc @AUVSI #JARUS and more make up the final panel at #DroneEnable https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/e70GsBIla8

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 23, 2017

23 September, 14:42

Time for our last panel of #DroneEnable. Here’s a summary of what to expect:

Looking  back at the many presentations and related discussions, what are the key points that garnered support? Can we begin to define the general framework for UTM? How do we take the information we have received and translate it into the first steps of a global implementation plan?

On stage are:

Moderator:

  • Stephen P. Creamer, Director, ICAO Air Navigation Bureau

Panel discussion:

  • Dr. Hiroko Nakamura, Deputy Director General at JAPAN Unmanned System Traffic & Radio Management Consortium (JUTM)
  • Captain Denis Guindon, Director General, Aviation Oversight and Transformation, Transport Canada
  • Ms. Tracy Lamb, Vice President Regulatory and Safety Affairs – Chief Pilot, AUVSI
  • Mr. Yves Morier, Chairman, Joint Authorities on Rule-making for Unmanned Systems (JARUS)
  • Mr. Doug Davis, Chairman of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Advisory Group (UAS-AG)

23 September, 14:33

Mr. Stephen Creamer, Director, ICAO Air Navigation Bureau says the goal is to have an operable international registry by the next #DroneEnable event.

Some of the important questions and challenges that will be addressed are:

1) How can a law abiding individual remain so, and operate their drone seamlessly in different States?

2) How can law enforcement monitor compliance with local rules and regulations?

3) How can industry contribute to the facilitation of the international drone operations?

 

23 September, 14:14

You could read about what Mr. Stephen Creamer, Director, ICAO Air Navigation is saying about the ICAO Registration system ….or you could watch it first hand.

Live streaming:

23 September, 14:11

Welcome back to the #DroneEnable live blog!  First order of the afternoon is the moment that most here have been anticipating: talk of the registration system. Mr. Stephen Creamer, Director, ICAO Air Navigation Bureau has the stage to give us some details on the system, which is under development. Keep checking back for information on its intended functionality and interaction with national registration systems.

 

23 September, 12:30

The morning sessions across all of the streams have wrapped up and it’s time for lunch. We’ll be back at 14:00 EST for a big announcement, then some closing remarks. Stay tuned!

23 September 12:24

Mr. Sebastian Babiarz, Head of Strategic Business Development, AirMap, when asked if geofencing is the truly the right term for what have been discussed and described:

We should call it  aerospace awareness.

 

23 September, 11:56

David Benavente of @embention is elaborating on autonomous avoidance with no human intervention #DroneEnable https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/1357Yh7uZy

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 23, 2017

23 September 11:43

Dr. Aaron McFadyen, Accelerate Research Fellow, Queensland University of Technology is presenting on geofencing and volumetric separation concepts. It’s a bit hard to see, but he showed a map of Brisbane, Australia divided up into geofencing zones:

 

23 September 11:35

Mr. Sebastian Babiarz, Head of Strategic Business Development, AirMap:

Geofencing is not a complete solution, it should be paired with authorization.

 

23 September 11:30

 

Sebastian Babiarz of @AirMapIO on #drones global economic impact: $127 billion in the next coming years #DroneEnable https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 23, 2017

23 September, 11:23

Mr. Sebastian Babiarz, Head of Strategic Business Development, AirMap presents some guiding principles for UTM:

  • Should be designed for the highly automated drone
  • Performance-based to encourage innovation
  • Should be open and democratic
  • Agile and able to move at the pace of emerging technology
  • Globally interoperable (GUTMA)

 

 

23 September 11:16

 

Experts from @AUVSI @AirMapIO @QUT @embention and @RockwellCollins at this #DroneEnable panel https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/YoVrm8W5ug

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 23, 2017

23 September, 11:08

Welcome back to the #DroneEnable live blog, did a quick switch-around and I am now live blogging from Stream C, Geofencing-like systems.  Geofencing is one potential solution for keeping UA from entering danger, restrictied or sensitive airspace. This session will showcase potential geofencing-like ystems that may have global applicability.

On stage we have experts:

Moderator:

  • Ms. Tracy Lamb, Vice President Regulatory and Safety Affairs – Chief Pilot, AUVSI

Presenters:

  • Mr. Sebastian Babiarz, Head of Strategic Business Development, AirMap
  • Dr. Aaron McFadyen, Accelerate Research Fellow, Queensland University of Technology
  • Mr. David Benavente, Founder/CEO, Embention

23 September 10:31

Coffee break time!  A reminder that I’ll be jumping to Stream C – Geofencing-like systems after, so check back at 11AM EST. Thanks for the coffee, Skyward!

 

 

23 September, 10:22

Laura Ponto of @google X:Operators of drones have the ultimate responsibility to avoid manned aircraft #DroneEnable https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/VbH3gYqIRV

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 23, 2017

23 September 10:14

A Q&A session is happening now after our first panel of the morning.

23 September, 10:03

Mr. Terrence Martin, Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology, gave us the background on the  Australian UTM BVLOS (BVLOS = beyond visual line of sight) trial, for disaster management. He said the trial gave some key takeaways, and future work will be done on:

  • Separation
  • Sensor referencing and accuracy
  • System latency

23 September 9:40

Mr. Craig Marcinkowski, Director, Strategy & Business Development, Gryphon Sensors is talking to us about Project U-SAFE (U-SAFE = UAS Secure Autonomous Flight Environment).

The basis of the project is:

  • A 50 mile “validated” UTM corridor
  • BVLOS Commercial UAS Operations (low altitude 500ft, small UAS <55lbs)
  • Critical infrastructure protection applications
  • NUSTAR (National UAS Standardized Testing and Rating) facility

 

23 September 9:30

Mr. David Benavente, Founder/CEO, Embention, is running us through a few of the ways that UAS communicate with each other and with manned aircraft. Some concepts he’s introducing include Autopilot and Cloud connectivity.

23 September, 9:21

Ms. Laura Ponto, Head of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Project Wing, Google X:

Performance-based, technology-neutral standards for interoperability,  coordination,tracking, and identification of UAS will enable the safe and efficient integration into our airspace.

She went on to show a video on Project Wing, a fascinating initiative.

 

23 September 9:15

 

First session of #DroneEnable today has experts from @Transport_gc @Google @embention @GryphonSensors @QUT https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/WBHvxGpjFw

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 23, 2017

23 September 9:04

The first session in this UTM communications stream deals with systems for the exchange of data, including for control purposes and broadcasting of position. This session will showcase potential solutions for communications systems that may have global applicability.

On stage are:

Moderator:

  • Captain Denis Guindon, Director General, Aviation Oversight and Transformation, Transport Canada

Presenters:

  • Ms. Laura Ponto, Head of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Project Wing, Google X
  • Mr. David Benavente, Founder/CEO, Embention
  • Mr. Craig Marcinkowski, Director, Strategy & Business Development , Gryphon Sensors
  • Mr. Terrence Martin, Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology

23 September 8:13

Good morning everyone and welcome back to the #DroneEnable live blog! Bit of a special roll out today, as from 9AM – 12:30PM we will have three streams going in three separate rooms. Modern science has not yet advanced in such a way that I can be in three places at once, so we will be live streaming Stream A – UTM Registration, identification and tracking while I float between Stream B – UTM Communications systems and Stream C – UTM Geofencing-like systems.

Watch Stream A below, starting at 9AM EST.

22 September 17:41

We’re wrapping up day one of #DroneEnable, a full but informative day focused on common framework and global harmonization for UTM.

The live blog will resume tomorrow (yes, on a Saturday!) at 9AM EST. It will be a bit more of a unique delivery tomorrow, as we have 3 streams taking place simultaneously:

  1. UTM – Registration, identification and tracking
  2. UTM – Communications systems
  3. UTM – Geofencing-like systems

The streams are taking place from 9AM EST to 12:30 EST. I’ll be floating from one stream to another to get you all the coverage I can.

22 September 17:08

It’s been a packed first day at #DroneEnable, and we’re starting the last presentation of the day,  Mr. Nikolai Vassiliev, Chief, Terrestrial Services Department, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has the stage. He’ll be talking about potential spectrum and telecom technologies for small UAS.

22 September 16:30

One more coffee break, we’ll be back for the closing remarks at 17:00 EST.

22 September, 16:22

Moderator Aaron McCrorie,  Director General, Aviation Safety Regulatory Framework, Transport Canada points out that the only community we are not hearing from at #DroneEnable is the recreational user. How will regulations affect drone “hobbyists”?

Gur Kimchi, Vice President, Amazon Prime Air, responds:

There’s a time and a place to operate drones as a hobbyist. You can go to a geofenced field and have fun, we just have to make it affordable. If we make the equipment to interoperate cheap, lightweight, then when they do want to take the vehicle and integrate it, they can.

 

22 September, 16:10

Gur Kimchi, Vice President, Amazon Prime Air when asked: what do you need from regulators right now?

Uniformity. The same civil standards that work worldwide is what’s going to help this industry.

22 September 16:00

A huge panel up on stage featuring all of our presenters on the UTM common framework sessions from this morning and this afternoon. For as much as we talked about the future of UAS….I have a feeling that it’s in this room.

22 September 15:44

Mr. Valerio Paciucci, ATM & Airport team leader, Ingegneria Dei Sistemi (IDS) is detailing their traffic management approach to UAS.

It starts with a system called DREAMS: the Drone Enhanced Airspace Management System. DREAMS is a web-based solution developed to contribute to the implementation of UTM services in line with U-space concept.

22 September, 15:37

 

M. Mannino of IDS: There is great market potential in multiple sectors for #drones. #DroneEnable https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/A4bARBKGws

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 22, 2017

22 September 15:10

Mr. Christian Ramsey, Vice President of Business Development, uAvionix says that all airspace users need a way to be aware of one another. Current technologies are addressing needs of manned aviation, but now we have new stakeholders and new needs. We have  UAS operators, unmamnned traffic operating systems, law enforcement security and the public.

 

22 September 14:54

Mr. Lawrence Ley, Portfolio Manager, The Boeing Company, runs us through some key technology enablers.

 

22 September 14:43

 

Welcome back to #DroneEnable and the live blog. Reps from @Transport_gc @Boeing @uavionix and more on stage now. https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/5HB9gUk1xT

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 22, 2017

22 September 14:36

Welcome back for this afternoon plenary session of #DroneEnable. This session will provide an opportunity to showcase several submissions from experts that describe a common framework for UTM which could be implemented by all States. The objective is to create a structure that will focus research and development activities going forward.

Our panel of experts are:

Moderators:

  • Mr. Aaron McCrorie, Director General, Aviation Safety Regulatory Framework, Transport Canada

Presenters:

  • Mr. Lawrence Ley, Portfolio Manager, The Boeing Company
  • Mr. Christian Ramsey, Vice President of Business Development , uAvionix
  • Mr. Marcello Davide Mannino, Corporate Sales and Marketing Deputy Director, Ingegneria Dei Sistemi (IDS)
  • Mr. Valerio Paciucci, ATM & Airport team leader, Ingegneria Dei Sistemi (IDS)

 

 

 

22 September 13:03

That was an incredibly interesting morning at #DroneEnable. Time for a quick lunch break sponsored by Thales:

We’ll be back at 14:30 EST!

22 September 13:01

Gur Kimchi, Vice  President, Amazon Prime Air:

Authorities should adopt performance based guidelines, endorse common technical standards, and embrace future technologies.

Industry has to  propose and adopt guidelines for interoperability, implement technical standards, and build safe and secure systems.

 

 

22 September 12:58

 

G.Kimchi of @amazon on authentication and identification of #drones: We cannot have anonymous aircraft. #DroneEnable https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/IRoacSJ0JS

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 22, 2017

22 September 12:50

Mr. Gur Kimchi, Vice President, Amazon Prime Air:

The role of automation is to execute your policies and enforce access control and detect exceptions.

The role of people is to define the policies, and modify them as per the exceptions.

 

 

 

22 September 12:39

Mr. Gur Kimchi, Vice President, Amazon Prime Air

If I show you our vision for this architecture and I replace the terminology with ones we currently use today…specifically the cell phone network… it’s the same one. And if you go and look at a lot of internet architectures…they use the same type of protocols. We’re proposing something that we know works. It’s been working and serving us for the past 25 years.

22 September 12:36

Mr. Gur Kimchi, Vice President, Amazon Prime Air

Drones have to talk to each other. The system is safer when you have both strategic management of the drones and tactical management of the drones.

 

22 September 12:34

 

So excited for this moment, Gur Kimchi of @Amazon takes the stage at @icao #DroneEnable https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/U5kcUX546e

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 22, 2017

22 September 12:22

Mr. Cristiano Baldoni, Head of the CNS section, Italian Air Navigation Service Provider (ENAV), is talking the details on the drone registry. He said their first step was the deployment of a web portal for the identification of drones, which should be a straight forward and direct process similar to registering a car. They’re also exploring e-identification, which should be possible regardless of the availability of mobile communication means.

 

22 September 12:03

Mr. Alessandro Cardi, Deputy Director, Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile (ENAC) outlines some of the challenges that Italy faces related to drones:

1) Rapid growth of the industry without proper regulation

2) Drones need to be safely accommodated

3) Concerns over security and privacy

4) Innovative services offered to new kinds of users need to be financially sustainable

These challenges have been highlighted several times over the past week, by our speakers from all over the world. It just shows the importance of global harmonization when it comes to establishing a common framework for this industry.

22 September, 11:39

 

Dr. Kin Huat Low, Principal Investigator of TM-UAS Programme, Air Traffic Management Research Institute (ATMRI); Professor, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore says that they are very motivated by growing demands for UAS operations by government agencies, recreational and commercial users. He says Singapore is very enthusaistic about the use of drones and details some applications of drones  currently operating in the urban environment:

  1. Videography
  2. Surveillance
  3. Inspection
  4. Delivery

22 September 11:23

Mr. Ben Tally, Co-founder and CIO, GeoNetwork:

No fly areas are not enough, we need smarter geofences that both enable and restrict with entitlements.

 

22 September 11:14

 

This panel is well stacked. Reps from @Transport_gc @NTUsg @ENAVSpA @amazon and more #DroneEnable https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/kk4cqRr2Gh

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 22, 2017

22 September, 11:08

We’re back and ready to start the next session. On stage are:

 

Moderators:

  • Mr. Aaron McCrorie, Director General, Aviation Safety Regulatory Framework, Transport Canada
  • Mr. Parimal Kopardekar, NASA Senior Technologist for Air Transportation, Autonomy Expert, NASA Ames Research Center

Presenters:

  • Mr. Ben Tally, Co-founder and CIO, GeoNetwork
  • Dr. Kin Huat Low, Principal Investigator of TM-UAS Programme, Air Traffic Management Research Institute (ATMRI); Professor, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  • Mr. Alessandro Cardi, Deputy Director, Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile (ENAC)
  • Mr. Cristiano Baldoni, Head of the CNS section, Italian Air Navigation Service Provider (ENAV)
  • Mr. Gur Kimchi, Vice President, Amazon Prime Air

22 September 10:34

Quick coffee break, we’ll be back at 11AM EST.

22 September 10:33

Ms. Leslie Cary, RPAS Programme Manager, ICAO Air Navigation Bureau, identifies some objectives of ICAO’s strategy:

The objective is to design a UAS traffic management (UTM) framework, one that include effectiveness, safety and efficiency, with core boundaries for global harmonization. To do this, we’re going about it differently and faster. We’re involving industry. We formed a UAS advisory group, to provide UAS guidance and best practices to States, regulatory bodies and Stakeholders.

She then references the UAS toolkit, which was first delivery of the advisory group.

 

22 September 10:18

After a spirited discussion led by Mr. Stephen Creamer, Director, ICAO Air Navigation Bureau, we’re on to our next session. Presenting is Ms. Leslie Cary, RPAS Programme Manager, ICAO Air Navigation Bureau.

This session will provide an overview of the work underway at ICAO on a full regulatory framework for RPAS and the new approach to support global harmonization of UAS provisions in a domestic environment. Regulatory framework was a key point of discussion at the #icaoRPAS Symposium earlier this week, so this should be interesting!

22 September, 10:10

S. Creamer of @icao opens Q&A with the question: is using the air space a right, or is it a privilege? #DroneEnable https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/hKmllzYu6e

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 22, 2017

22 September 10:01

Mr. Timothy Reuter, Head of Civil Drones Project, World Economic Forum, on some of their projects:

We are focused on facilitating interaction to drive impact, we just opened a centre for the fourth industrial revolution. It focuses on how to accelerate adoption of future technology–including drones. We want to do so in such a way that maximizes benefits and mitigates risk. How does policy become an enabling element of technological adoption?

If we believe drone technology has the ability to save lives, to assist us in better undertanding our environment, then we have a moral obligation to facilitate the adoption of this technology as soon as possible while maintaining all levels of safety.

 

 

22 September, 9:49

Mr. Brian Wynne, President and CEO of AUVSI, acknowledges the need for flexibility within the small UAS field. He’s speaking a bit about the humanitarian help that UAS can provide.

He says the the industry has long known that UAS has tremendous benefits for aid workers and first responders. People across the globe have seen UAS save time, money, most importantly–lives. He says there’s a realization that UAS operations can get people the help they need, when they need it most. The industry is primed for incredible growth, and business and civil operators should be able to reap the full benefits of UAS. We must work together on a global scale to make this happen safely, so society can benefit.

 

 

 

22 September, 9:37

Mr. Gilberto Lopez Meyer, Senior Vice President, Safety & Flight Operations, IATA, is highlighting a common theme in his opening remarks. It’s a theme that we have all heard for most of the week: cooperation.

He says the UTM environment can be viewed as a breaking ground for a completely new way of doing things, but the ATM system needs to be able to cope and accommodate as unmanned and manned airspace joins together. This involves evolving technological capabilities, exchange of data, and cooperation. With that, it will provide new opportunities for traffic management and air space planning.

 

 

 

22 September 9:31

 

Stephen Creamer, Director @icao, introducing our first panel feat. experts from @IATA @AUVSI and @wef #DroneEnable https://t.co/WpQBEfjyyN pic.twitter.com/huqZmQQ8c2

— Lisa Williams (@lwilliamsICAO) September 22, 2017

22 September, 9:27

Mr. Stephen Creamer, Director, ICAO Air Navigation Bureau in his opening remarks:

From my perspective here at ICAO, this is about you. This is about the folks you need to engage with to be successful in the industry.

 

 

22 September 9:06

And here we go! Dr. Fang Liu, Secretary General, ICAO, is giving the opening remarks as we kick off #DroneEnable.

 

22 September 8:22

Good morning everyone and welcome to the #DroneEnable live blog! We will be kicking things off here at 9AM EST.

21 September,  8:58

Welcome to the #DroneEnable live blog! The conference starts 22 September at 9AM EST, so tune in then for all your updates.