The technology and capability of drones are expanding fast as new use cases for them emerge. To keep up, a new regulatory and operations framework is unfolding globally. There are several programs worldwide, sponsored by traditional Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) and aviation regulators like the FAA, CASA in Australia, the CAA in the UK, EASA in the EU and others, moving quickly to assure it can all be controlled or, more particularly, managed.
Some lessons from the airline industry are important for the drone industry. Lessons from the airlines could be messengers of success, or failure, for the nascent drone industry. Balancing the key issues below is crucial.
The Technical
The technical aspects of vehicles themselves are one thing. The other is the varied, networked and integrated solutions necessary to ensure the operations of new crewed or uncrewed, remotely piloted, or autonomous vehicles can occur as safely and efficiently as possible. That is, without bumping into each other.
Collectively, the system of systems that will manage this has its own acronym.
UTM—Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management.
To be sure, these systems will not just apply to "unmanned" delivery drones.
More profoundly, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) thinks UTM will serve as the model for the future of air traffic management globally.
"...ICAO is bringing together stakeholders to develop a global vision for future integrated air traffic management that meets the needs of all existing and emerging airspace users. The companies expect ... (UTM) to play a key enabling role in the evolution of air traffic management (ATM)..." (Graham Warwick, Aviation Week)
To be sure, these systems will not just apply to "unmanned" delivery drones.
More profoundly, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) thinks UTM will serve as the model for the future of air traffic management globally.
"...ICAO is bringing together stakeholders to develop a global vision for future integrated air traffic management that meets the needs of all existing and emerging airspace users. The companies expect ... (UTM) to play a key enabling role in the evolution of air traffic management (ATM)..." (Graham Warwick, Aviation Week)
That's quite a responsibility, but possible, even likely. The drone industry has some remarkable similarities to the aviation industry.
- 4 Dimensional Trajectory Management (4DTM) is evolving as the foundation of traffic management. The drone industry has embraced the concepts, notably different from big airlines, which have, so far, ignored it at their cost and possible peril.
Other parallels with airlines should be front of mind for different reasons.
- Locking into suppliers ends up dictating process, procedure and operating nuance. Many airlines are locked into systems and processes that do not serve them well but remain trapped because...
- Focussing on technology (almost exclusively) at the expense of business characteristics constrains outcomes.
These have been costly for the airline industry and led to an unenviable record for system delivery. The nascent drone industry could take caution from the messages they contain.
Data exchange, data integration, consolidation, assuring readiness for oncoming regulation and operating requirements, and assisting the development of 4DTM. All at the heart of what Closed Loop does.
While Closed Loop can assist clients in developing the technology, UTM concepts and services, like the recent Airservices Australia Flight Information Management System (FIMS) RFP, and other systems and services, we also help with an often overlooked aspect. The Business.
FIMS is a core integration piece for ensuring the exchangeability and universal availability of the disparate information required to manage the growth of drones, UAM - Urban Air Mobility and AAM - Advanced Air Mobility activity.
The Business
Commoditisation, commercialisation and implementation. The missing pieces in another technology race?
The development of the drone/UAM/AAV industry focuses unabatedly on the technology.
Closed Loop also focuses on the business strategies crucial to successfully integrating drones into a city's infrastructure and transport ecosystems.
Evolving the business of drones.
Getting a coffee or 'toastie' delivered by a drone—because we can— might seem 'cool', irrespective of the price or real efficiency, but there are other things to think about. Refining use-cases, business analysis, commercialisation, implementation—the strategy piece—is often overlooked. And the cost can be high.
A 'toastie' is a sandwich toasted with fillings in-situ. Perhaps known better in Australia and New Zealand by the term. Coffees and toasties, among other packages, are being delivered by their hundreds of thousands in one of Brisbane's outer suburbs—because they can.
Lessons from the aviation industry demonstrate that overlooking the business aspects of new ecosystems lead to inferior outcomes, and statistics from the big airline cousins make challenging reading. Broader system perspectives, like the business case, implementation planning, strategies that answer why, then how, while perhaps mundane when dealing with cool new technology, are crucial in delivering operating outcomes that work for everybody.
While the technology races ahead, deployment successes will be underpinned by target cities and target communities being ready too.
- City infrastructure. Landing and charging zones; noise corridors; planning and control.
- Transport Hub Integration. City infrastructure development is moving forward. Many cities are not thinking about what the drone industry will mean to their planning or what will be needed to make it all fit together.
- Airspace & routes. Just because the regulator deems it ok, does that make it so?