Reuters has reported that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (IACO) is planning to support the establishment of a single global registration system for drone users.
The plan is expected to be a part of a larger attempt to formulate a common framework for flying and tracking unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
With the registry, IACO aims to make data related to both drone operators and owners available in real-time.
Introducing a single source of data, the registry also seeks to help law enforcement agencies to remotely discover and track UAVs.
“They’ve got to build a drone differently in these different environments.”
ICAO has already proposed the idea in a symposium held in Montreal, Canada, this month.
If developed, the registry is also anticipated to curb the increasing privacy concerns among the public as well as fears of accidents between commercial jets and UAVs.
Various countries, including the US, China and several European countries that are witnessing a rising use of drones, are also expected to benefit from the registration system.
In 2015, a US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulation came into force, requiring commercial drone users of the country to register their vehicles with IACO.
However, the US Court of Appeals in Washington had earlier repealed the regulation following an appeal made by a drone hobbyist.
ICAO air navigation bureau director Stephen Creamer was quoted by Reuters as saying:
“They (drone makers) are worried that Europe might create one set of standards, the US might do a second and China might do a third.
“And they’ve got to build a drone differently in these different environments.”
In order to voice its concern on various issues including registering and tracking of UAVs, as well as the development of geofencing-type systems to control drones from flying in restricted areas, ICAO is set to host a two-day symposium from 22 September.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will be hosting the DRONE ENABLE, ICAO’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Industry Symposium from 22 to 23 September 2017 at its Headquarters in Montréal, Canada.
The symposium will provide a unique opportunity for States, international organizations, industry, academia and other stakeholders to share their research, best practices and lessons learned related to unmanned aircraft system traffic management systems (UTM). Speakers will be selected from submissions in response to the UTM Request for Information (RFI) contained on the link. Maturity of proposed solutions, potential for global application as well as supporting infrastructure requirements will be factored into the speaker selection process.
Attention will be given to defining a framework for a UAS traffic management (UTM) environment. Key supporting functions, such as a registration system, ability to remotely identify and track unmanned aircraft (UA), communications systems and geofencing-like systems, will be included.
DRONE ENABLE will be an opportunity for networking, collaboration and coordination between States, industry, and both new and existing stakeholders as we move forward in this dynamic new field.
Representatives from various companies such as Google, Rockwell Collins and Amazon are expected to take part in the symposium.
Sources: Aerospace Technology; Press Release