Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.
Issue link: https://insideunmanned.epubxp.com/i/643419
ENGINEERING. PRACTICE. POLICY. 43 unmanned systems inside January/February 2016 States is still busy drafting rules about the use of small drones. The FAA's 333 exemption pro- cess, which was set up to allow some commeri- cal UAS operations, only came into full swing in 2015. So the disarray in terms of Europe-wide regu- lation has actually allowed individual countries to 'run free', with the more flexible and oppor- tunistic among them moving forward quickly, even more quickly than the United States. As a result, McKinnon concluded, "some countries in Europe do have commercial drone operators with considerably more experience than what we have in the U.S." But the same freedom that has allowed some European countries to jump ahead has also allowed others to sink into obscurity. In coun- tries where the national government has failed to respond to the UAS revolution, local entre- preneurs have been left without any regulatory framework within which to work and grow. Meeting a Challenge, or Nullifying an Advantage? In an attempt to bring everyone up to speed, the Europe Union, through the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), is now set to impose a Union-wide RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) framework that, it hopes, will open the f loodgates and allow more EU drone compa- nies to join the game. EASA's actions are clearly well intended, McKinnon said, but the ultimate result is dif- ficult to predict. "It could potentially be a big benefit, if the result is to harmonize rules across Europe, so there is just one set of rules for everyone in all the different countries," McKinnon said. That would mean, for example, a single set of stan- dards to meet, and, if your goal is to do business across all of the EU, that would indeed make things a lot easier. "You wouldn't have to go through 28 differ- ent certification processes in 28 different coun- tries," he said. The impact of Europe's risk-averse investors Dan Kara, ABI's Research Director for Robotics, says there is a troubling, issue that undermines Europe's high-tech entrepreneurs. "Europe lacks the mindset for making high-risk investments," he said. Indeed, the comparative lack of venture capital, i.e. the culturally engrained 'fear of failure' among European investors, relative to the U.S. at least, is a huge problem and a real handicap for just about all Europe-based entrepreneurs, including those in the UAS sector. To alleviate the hunger for high- tech investment, the European Commission, as the Union's executive branch, puts millions into market-oriented research and development, year after year. This includes support for start-ups and small- and medium- sized enterprises, hoping to turn bright European technology- based ideas, of which there is no shortage, into concrete economic success stories. However, as often as not, as soon as a high-tech European project shows a smidgeon of promise—even the smidgeon made possible thanks to EU funding—daring, big-time investors, frequently Silicon Valley- based, lure them across the water to complete and translate their projects into new value and jobs in the U.S. Photo courtesy of By Xavier Häpe: www.flickr.com/photos/vier/192493917/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2462938 On the other hand, he said, it's something of a risk for those countries that already have a functional national regulatory framework, and where commercial drone operations are moving along nicely. Having to switch over to a new EU framework could prove disruptive. Either way, the change is coming. EASA offi- cials say the new regulation, currently awaiting legislative approval, is likely to come into effect in early 2017—just a year away. But a year can be a long time in the UAS universe. Interested eyes will be watching to see how the sector moves in the last days of UAS lawlessness in Europe.