Ladies and Gentlemen,
This article is a Call to Action to help our commercial UAS/Drone industry advance to the next level. This is not another one of those, “The technology is great!” Or “Let’s talk about the potential of the industry” pieces. This is about building a “Foundation of Support” for the Industry. Help me (and all of us) create a Standards-Based Certification framework.
As many of you know, I speak highly on industry support, building the industry the right way the first time, and ensuring that not only are the proper tools being used by the people who provide the service of Data Retrieval, but more so, clients and customers who will be using this data, are getting what they deserve. Accurate and reliable data is the key ingredient to successfully giving the end-users the efficiency and effectiveness the technology has to offer.
I am speaking to those who I approached about this subject in Denver at AUVSI’s Xponential, I am speaking to those who have the same thought process going on and want to see this industry’s potential come to life. I am speaking to those who are already on board with this type of approach. I am speaking to those just breaking into the industry, trying to find their fit in a particular niche and wishing they had a more clear path on what they need to learn, do, and demonstrate in order to prove they are qualified. I am speaking to the people in various industry verticals who need help identifying who is actually qualified and proficient to deliver what you need and want with a UAS. We need everyone’s help to create a community and framework that establishes the right way – starting with the essential fundamentals – to keep us moving forward with this technology.
How are we going to do this? We are going to set aside all the biased opinions on the type of equipment to be used. We are going to find the absolute best specifications in sensors for the data to be used in a specific Infrastructure Category. We are going to find the best methods of inspecting such infrastructure to get the best data possible to the client.
This is about the people, the processes, the tools, and the DATA to achieve the goal of integrating this technology into our workflows. This is about utilizing this technology to improve the world as we know it, from the sky down. This is not only about defining our standards-based certifications but creating a viable plan to get them adopted. This “Foundation of Support” for the industry is designed to bring the right people, with the right equipment together, so that we are as an industry are building this foundation together by setting a standard for the right reasons, the right places, on the right integration, capturing the right data, in the right manner. With standards-based certification, not only will the pilots been trained and certified, the client will also be able to vet the service being provided by the certifications pilots bring with them.
We are looking for candidates to contribute. We are going to be forming “The Unmanned Pilot Licensing Innovation Facilitation Team” (U.P.L.I.F.T.) and I would like the support of all of you who are concerned with building the industry the right way, with common standards that help everyone and get widely adopted.
Our team will be open to anyone who shares our goals and who agrees to a set of basic guidelines and expectations to advance this cause. Our primary online platform for discussions and work products is Slack. Sign up here: UPLIFT and you will be invited to join this “Foundation of Support” for creating a standards-based certification framework for UAS personnel, systems, and data products.
If you are interested in being part of this, you can Sign up here: UPLIFT and add your availability within a channel on our Slack Group