Civic News

Everybody wants more drones

Our takeaways from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy workshop on the future of aviation.

U.S. CTO Megan Smith speaks to the drone workshop attendees. (Photo by Tajha Chappellet-Lanier)

If there was one central theme to Tuesday’s White House Office of Science and Technology Policy workshop on drones and the future of aviation it can best be characterized by a single question: How do we work as fast as possible to expand capacity for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) while at the same time staying safe?


All of the workshop’s lightning talks, panels and intro speeches touched on this question to some extent. And this in itself showed the broad range of stakeholders in the question. There were public servants from the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and more in the room, joined by academics, private-sector leaders and other interest groups.
And all, for one reason or another, said, Yeah, we’d like to use more drones.
Fittingly, the workshop was all about working together toward that goal.
Several key announcements were made, including but not limited to $35 million in National Science Foundation funding to “accelerate the understanding of how to intelligently and effectively design, control, and apply UAS to beneficial applications” over the next five years; commitments by the Interior to use UAS in search and rescue missions and more; the revelation that UAS “industry associations” will “implement a broad educational effort around privacy best practices for users;” and the fact that New York will invest $5 million in the growth of the UAS industry in that state.
Attendees also heard from two panels, one on the role of research and development and data in policymaking (takeaway: we need more, good data on drone safety) and the other on “advancing technological progress” (takeaway: we need more, good data, preferably gathered in “low-risk” environments like testing grounds).
After the workshop, which took place in an auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the gathered drone enthusiasts filed out, to a demo and then back to work. Back to figuring out how we can use and benefit from drone technology “safely and expeditiously,” as FAA’s assistant administrator for NextGen, Jim Eck, put it. Back (we hope) to gathering that data.

Companies: White House

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Skills, not schools: A new path for government tech

Meet DC’s winners in the 2024 Technical.ly Awards

This Week in Jobs: Fill your plate with these 26 tech career opportunities

How 5 orgs help local businesses achieve success

Technically Media