To facilitate an ongoing, open dialogue about the security issues facing the drone industry, the Commercial Drone Alliance and global law firm Hogan Lovells last week hosted another event in their Domestic Drone Security Series.
The daylong event – featuring panel discussions and keynotes – brought together representatives of the executive and legislative branches, law enforcement, states, localities, and industry to discuss how technology can solve important issues around unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) integration into the National Airspace System.
Participating organizations included the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and National Security Council, the National Aviation Intelligence Integration Office, the DOD, the DOJ, the FBI, DHS, NASA, the FAA, the DOI, U.S. Congress, and more. Topics discussed included remote identification; cyber security; the FAA’s UAS Integration Pilot Program; UAS threat mitigation; and views from states, localities and Congress.
According to the Commercial Drone Alliance – which details only the information made available to the public – broad consensus emerged among participating stakeholders that a simple, sustainable and scalable remote identification solution is critical to the success of the commercial drone industry. As policy moves forward, participants also discussed voluntary measures industry could act upon now to keep the skies safe and secure for commerce, hobbyists and the general public.
“The success of the Drone Security Series speaks to the intense interest of the community in addressing security issues in a way that expands operations for these innovative and game-changing machines, while working in close coordination with public and national security agencies,” comments Lisa Ellman, co-executive director of the Commercial Drone Alliance and partner at Hogan Lovells. “The caliber of our summit participants – leaders in the commercial drone industry, government and national security communities – allows us to tackle challenging policy issues and move the conversation forward in constructive and actionable ways.”
“There’s broad consensus that it’s in society’s best interest for commercial drones to take off and thrive – so that the safety and economic benefits of this technology can be realized and also so the U.S. can maintain its technological leadership,” adds Gretchen West, co-executive director of the alliance and senior advisor at Hogan Lovells. “The Domestic Drone Security Series connects stakeholders from across the spectrum to have an open, honest dialogue about what’s needed to get commercial drones integrated into the National Airspace System and move these proposals forward.”
The Commercial Drone Alliance and Hogan Lovells note they look forward to the next installment of the Domestic Drone Security Series and continuing the dialogue on the future of drone technology and its safe mainstream adoption.
More information on the previous event in the series can be found here.
