Drone
By Sumaila Ogbaje
Abuja, April 9, 2018 (NAN) International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has announced its resolve to establish low-altitude traffic management guidance for domestic unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to make the system safe and efficient.
A statement by ICAO on Monday in Montreal and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, disclosed that drone deliveries, inspections and autonomous flying taxis were near term realities.
ICAO’s Council President, Dr Benard Aliu said that many new proposals and innovations were emerging on a daily basis regarding unmanned aircraft and their operations at low altitudes.
Aliu said that ICAO was the natural agency to bring together the best and brightest from government and industry to define how unmanned aircraft could be safely integrated into modern airspace.
He added that the UN Agency would also ensure that drones would optimise their benefits globally for the wide range of public and private sector operators.
According to him, during ICAO’s 39th Assembly in 2016, world governments requested that it develop a practical regulatory framework for national UAS activities, in addition to the standards it was already developing for international operations.
“ICAO recognied that an agreed global approach will greatly assist businesses and others in launching their UAS services with suitable levels of investment confidence and operational safety.
“ICAO is now convening its second DRONE ENABLE event for Sept. 13 and 14 in Chengdu, China.
“Its focus will be on exploring new solutions with experts and innovators from industry, academia and other areas to help globally coordinate the development of UAS activities.
“It will focus on how to safely integrate UAS traffic management systems and existing conventional air traffic management systems.
“In preparation for the Chengdu event, ICAO has also issued a second request for information (RFI) to expand on the guidance material which was initiated after its first DRONE ENABLE in 2017.
Also, ICAO’s Secretary General, Dr Fang Liu, said that multiple states and regional groups had activities underway to establish a UAS airspace management tool for lower altitudes.
Liu stated that ICAO’s work through this RFI process would help to facilitate harmonised solutions that were safe, secure, sustainable and most importantly globally aligned.
“Our over-riding goal at ICAO is to better define the issues involved, whether technical, operational or legal, and also to ensure safety continues to remain our highest priority,’’ she said. (NAN)
OYS/AFA
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Edited by Felix Ajide