Possibly fearing UK competition, White House pushes new drone initiatives
The White House Office of Science and Technology held a conference on Tuesday to discuss the future of commercial drone use and announced several initiatives to encourage its growth.
“We need to incorporate unmanned aircraft and their users into our culture of safety and responsibility,” Federal Aviation Association (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta said. “But we need to do it in a way that doesn’t stifle the enthusiasm for this growing industry.”
Most of the measures announced are partnerships and grants to conduct further research, especially for safety purposes to avoid air collisions.
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For example, The National Science Foundation will receive $35 million over five years to research how drones might be useful for utilities inspections, disaster management and agricultural monitoring. And New York state acquired $5 million from New York state to develop a drone traffic management system between Syracuse and Rome.
Meanwhile, Google's Project Wing will be testing its drones at one of the FAA's six cargo delivery test sites. The Department of the Interior also received a go-ahead and will be adding drones to its search and rescue operations.
"We need to incorporate unmanned aircraft and their users into our culture of safety and responsibility... in a way that doesn’t stifle the enthusiasm for this growing industry"
The conference came a week after Amazon said it would be testing its Amazon Prime drone delivery program in the United Kingdom.
In the U.S., experts say the growth potential for drones is huge. Currently, the industry is expected to make $82 billion over the next decade or so and create 100,000 new jobs, according to a 2015 report by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. Huerta said 520,000 drone pilots have registered with the government since December, compared to 320,000 for manned aircraft.
Ever since the FAA in June issued its first rules for drones of a certain size, the market has for small drones has grown. But future conferences could deal with drones heavier than 55 pounds, according to USA Today.
