Property Drone Consortium Encouraged by White House Drone Initiative
The Property Drone Consortium (PDC) is encouraged by the White House’s announcement of the UAS Integration Pilot Program Initiative. The Initiative, in which local and state authorities will collaborate with commercial entities to address needs for different types of commercial drone operations, has the potential to speed up the development of one consistent and transparent legal and regulatory framework across the U.S. that will be necessary to realize the full potential of drones. The Initiative is also in keeping with the PDC’s efforts to work closely with federal, state and local authorities so that their requirements are addressed on important issues such as post-catastrophic response.
Gary Sullivan, Co-Chair of the PDC stated, “While we are still awaiting many of the details of the Initiative, we support an approach that will allow industry to work with state and local authorities to address critical issues associated with UAS operations. We believe that such an approach should be used to facilitate a uniform environment across the U.S. for commercial use of drones.”
It is expected that local, state, and tribal governments will pair with unmanned aircraft operators to propose solutions to the most difficult integration challenges, while subject to FAA safety oversight. The Secretary of Transportation will choose at least five such proposals.
“In talking with state and local authorities”, said Bryan Corder, Co-Chair of the PDC, “the PDC has learned that drones can play a critical role in post-catastrophic events. We hope that this will be one of the operations that will be selected by the Secretary of Transportation as it highlights the need for coordination between a number of stakeholders.”
About Property Drone Consortium
The Property Drone Consortium represents a collaboration among insurance carriers, construction industry leaders and supporting enterprises who have agreed to work together to promote research, development and the assessment of regulations for the use of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) technology across the insurance and construction industries. www.propertydrone.org
