In an effort to keep up with the booming commercialization of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the formation of a new advisory committee earlier this month.
The Drone Advisory Council (DAC) is made up of stakeholders who will provide advice on key issues, help identify and prioritize challenges and improvements, and create broad support for an overall integration strategy.
"Input from stakeholders is critical to our ability to achieve that perfect balance between integration and safety,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) conference on May 3. “We know that our policies and overall regulation of this segment of aviation will be more successful if we have the backing of a strong, diverse coalition.”
This committee, chaired by Intel CEO Brain Krzanich, is a long-lasting "outgrowth of the successful" UAS registration task force and the MicroUAS aviation rule-making committees that were set up for single purposes or limited times, according an FAA news release.
In May, another advocacy group, the Commercial Drone Alliance, took off, adding itself on the list of other drone advocacy and lobbing groups, including AUVSI, the Small UAV Coalition and Drone Manufactures Alliance.
Founding board members of the Commercial Drone Alliance include faces from CNN, Cisco, Data Wing, and Measure, a drone startup.
While the DAC is targeted toward representing the needs of businesses interest in drones, the other groups serve their respective niche groups. For example, the Small UAV Coalition represents hobbyists or companies that sell drone-related products and services to consumers, and the Drone Manufactures Alliance focuses on the commercial applications of drones.
The Drone Manufactures Alliance was formed when four companies, DJI, 3D Robotics, Parrot and GoPro, pulled out of the Small UAV Coalition.
"There is a lot happening in Washington around drones right now, and I think the companies felt the need to focus their efforts on policy issues that affect manufacturers of drones used in the recreational, commercial and other spaces,” Director of the Drone Manufacture Alliance Kara Calvert told Fortune. “In many cases, our policy position may fall in line with that of the UAV Coalition.”
