The UK Drone Delivery Group, the new drone industry initiative*
established to provide guidance on the steps required for the UK
to accelerate the growth of the UK drone industry, has today
released its long-awaited ‘White Paper’ for public consultation.
The White Paper calls for the development
of new
testing grounds, which are expected to significantly
transform the UK’s potential to achieve world-leading status in
the fast-moving drone industry.
Robert Garbett, founder of
the UK Drone
Delivery Group, stated:
“The release of this White Paper for public
consultation represents a major milestone for the UK drone
industry. The mass-participation drone testing programme that the
White Paper calls for will significantly transform the UK’s
capability to achieve world-leadership in this
industry.
“The recommendations in the White Paper highlight the
practical measures necessary to enable full economic development
of drones, including the testing of competing solutions to make
Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flying
possible.”
The UK Drone Delivery Group has already received widespread
interest from many owners and operators of potential testing
grounds and will soon embark on a series of pioneering projects
to test the capabilities of drones across a range of sectors
including parcel delivery for medicines and other supplies -
agriculture and the emergency services.
Robert Garbett added:
“Facilitating a world leading UK commercial drone industry
will bring immense benefits to UK plc, driving innovation, wealth
creation and employment opportunities right across the economy.
The pace of drone technology development around the world is
accelerating, and the UK, if it moves quickly, can reap the full
benefits of this technology, not just in the air, but also from
drones developed to operate on land or water, underwater or in
space.
“The potential benefits are staggering, but we need to act
now. We are keen to identify new testing grounds to be used for
take-off and landing, ideally including airports and
airfields, but
also forests, remote coastal areas and ports, through to
residential areas and other dense urban environments.
“Industry is looking now to the Government to get
behind this initiative, working with both public and private
sector drone users to help create a world-beating UK industry
that could play a huge role in underpinning our future economic
prosperity.”
The economic impact of drone technology is expected to be
massive, with Barclays having predicted in November 2019 that the
commercial drone market could grow tenfold from $4billion in 2018
to $40 billion by 2023 and creating cost savings of $100
billion.
It is anticipated that, following the consultation, the
completed White Paper will be ready for adoption by the end of
June 2020, following a three-month period of consultation and
review. The draft White Paper can be found [here] together
with a form for comments. Feedback is requested by 31 May
2020.
Those interested in participating in the UK Drone Delivery
Group’s drone testing ground initiative are asked to
contact: https://www.dronedeliverygroup.org/join-the-group
- Ends -
*Notes to Editors:
Drone Delivery Group
Formed in November 2018, the Drone Delivery Group is a not
for profit industry initiative involving over 300 senior UK drone
industry members and a growing number of international observers.
The aim of the Group is to arrive at a UK industry-supported
solution to Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), Vertical
Take-off and Landing (VTOL) and UAS Traffic Management (UTM) that
can then be presented to Government (DfT, BEIS and the CAA) as a
recommended approach to building the necessary framework to
enable the development of the industry and the evolution of UK
airspace management for UAVs and hybrid drones that the
Government can confidently support as a workable solution to
enable safe and secure commercial drone flights to become a
reality in UK skies.
Robert Garbett
Robert is founder of the UK Drone Delivery Group and
founder of Drone Major Group Limited, the world’s first global
drone consultancy dedicated to advising companies and
organisations on what can be achieved through the use of
autonomous and remotely controlled systems (drones) in their
operations across all environments (surface, underwater, air and
space). Robert is Chairman of the British Standards Institution
(BSI) Committee responsible for the development of drone
standards in the UK and leads the International Standards
Organisation Working Group developing the standards for the
operation of unmanned air systems (UAS), both passenger and
non-passenger carrying. He is the only authority to be advising
on standards in Britain, Europe and worldwide; a leading
consultant within the global drone industry and an advocate on
the potential of drone technology to transform businesses and
economies.
