The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has released a summary report of its May 19, 2017, meeting on coordination of standardization activities for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), also known as drones. The meeting confirmed broad-based support for ANSI to establish the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Standardization Collaborative (UASSC), which will hold its inaugural meeting on September 28, 2017, in Washington, DC.
The meeting report includes perspectives on the current UAS landscape from several U.S. federal government agencies, standards developing organizations (SDOs), and industry stakeholders, among others. It includes an overview of ANSI standardization collaboratives along with a discussion of the draft terms of reference of the UASSC and its potential focus areas. Some 70 individuals from over 40 organizations participated in the meeting.
The September 28 UASSC meeting will be held from 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EDT at the National Housing Center, 1201 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC, followed by a networking reception at the same location. Participation is open to UAS stakeholders that have operations in the United States.
There is no fee to participate in the September 28 meeting but advance registration is required. The draft agenda is available on the UASSC website along with a working draft of a standards landscape document listing known published and in-development UAS standards, other deliverables, and initiatives. Meeting participants are invited to comment on a proposed organizational strawman set forth on the agenda and on the standards landscape document.
The UASSC's mission will be to coordinate and accelerate the development of the standards and conformity assessment programs needed to facilitate the safe, mass integration of UAS into the national airspace system (NAS) of the United States. The collaborative will also focus on international coordination and adaptability, with the goal of fostering the growth of the UAS market. The UASSC will work to develop a standardization roadmap over the course of a year to identify existing standards and standards in development, define where gaps exist, and recommend additional work that is needed.
For more information, visit www.ansi.org/uassc.