The global challenge of regulating drone operations

By Simon J. Mone

One knowledgeable colleague of mine opined how drone operations are causing discomfort. There is unease because rules to oversee operations of this latest technology are non-existent. Around the world mind you! This is yet going to be a real problem, especially for aviation connoisseurs.

The emergence of drones or UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) is undoubtedly a vital piece of wit in our world today. Drones have now found prominence in so many ways. Being very easy to access, you do not have to be a mogul to acquire.

It is a steal, so we can only expect too many in the airspace than we would like to manage. Already, we are seeing widespread usage and the general thinking is that it could become impossible to manage UAVs in the absence of enabling laws.

We see they are now gaining popularity in humanitarian aid operations. Today, drones enable fast, remote access to wherever really. The thing is now being used to deliver basic humanitarian-aid. So in that aspect, neutrals can easily say that drone operations are a nice problem.

It is more efficient than having people on the ground. For humanitarians, rather than put lives of their staff on the line, they would prefer drones to hard-body land cruisers, to reach out to people in distress. In that way, they avoid land mines and ambushes. And instead of spending lots of money to open up access roads and extend compassion to poor people, they can give more aid. UAVs are a viable alternative for flying around to do the needful. Drones could also become a huge lifeline to facilitate news reporting in very difficult

situations, like in Syria and the rest. This eliminates deaths and harassment of journalists. In so doing, we make sure that battle grounds are left to those who need them. So the dangers that news reporters face ̶ the wrath of opposing sides will be avoided.

Therefore, quite frankly, drone innovation has made light work of what would have otherwise been a tall order; trying to access hostile environments and risking lives in the process. So generally, people are finding very useful application of drones. They are versatile avenues for a lot of applications.

We saw after the earthquake of Ecuador in April, UAVs employed to examine unsafe buildings. Provide photo maps of affected areas. So basically, the world could have found some useful piece of technology for many advantages. UAVs seem to offer infinite possibilities. Some reports indicate that countries are opening up to the fact that drones should be widely employed commercially.

Having derived the motivation from successful trial of drones in disasters, there is a lot of energy to move it a notch better. At one point, UAVs were deployed by the military as a tool of espionage. It might well change.

Drones can diversify to help non-military causes too. Afloat in the skies, they manoeuvre almost unnoticed. A closer look at UAVs leaves aviation experts worldwide pondering just one thing ̶ how their operations are going to be regulated in a manner that allows safety to happen.

That they are not manned is already a spanner in the works. And controlling them presents a major headache. So if drones are allowed unlimited space up there, the immediate problem would be; interfering with the controlled airspace. That is why, in the absence of regulations, the challenge is big.

In recent years, because of technology improvement, prices continue to drop and drones grow in popularity. It is estimated that commercial drone market globally will hit $ 1 billion by 2018. Therefore, owning and operating UAVs without laws regulating them is a worry really. So for solution, conjure up some quick enabling regulations to ensure disciplined use of the airspace.

The writer is a civil engineer