The September 28 meeting drew 83 attendees from 58 organizations including industry, trade associations, standards developing organizations (SDOs), government, and others. The program included introductory remarks from the UASSC co-chairs: Earl Lawrence, director, UAS integration, Federal Aviation Administration, and Brian Wynne, president and CEO, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. Following approval of the UASSC's mission, objectives, and deliverable, discussions focused on how to organize the collaborative to develop the standardization roadmap. The group agreed that airspace, risk, and regulatory requirements associated with different use cases were key considerations. Four areas to explore were identified: credentialing, airworthiness, operations/procedures, and airspace/infrastructure. Breakout groups further identified sub-topics to consider in each of these areas.
A report of the September 28 meeting and supporting documents are available on the UASSC website. This includes a report of a May 19 preliminary meeting of stakeholders that indicated broad-based support for the UASSC and prompted ANSI to announce its establishment. Subsequent to the September meeting, an interim steering committee reviewed the outcomes and agreed on a working group structure centered on many of the more frequently mentioned use cases.
"ANSI has a track record of developing standardization roadmaps in diverse areas such as additive manufacturing, energy efficiency in the built environment, and electric vehicles," said ANSI president and CEO Joe Bhatia. "We offer a neutral forum where experts can come together to discuss the issues, particularly in emerging areas of technology when there is a need for coordinated standards activity. We look forward to fostering this dialogue on the role of standardization in addressing the challenges associated with integrating UAS into the airspace and realizing the full potential that this exciting technology offers," he said.
For more information, visit www.ansi.org/uassc.
About ANSI
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Its membership is comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations. The Institute represents the diverse interests of more than 125,000 companies and organizations and 3.5 million professionals worldwide.
The Institute is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).