The Partnership Between Commercial Drones and Public Safety Drone Stakeholders – and Why It’s Important

Posted By: Miriam McNabb

Drone technology has direct potential to save lives when used in public safety – but public safety agencies need the drone industry's help to get them implemented.

Now, the DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance, an advocacy and resource group for the public safety sector, and the Commercial Drone Alliance have announced a partnership to help get public safety departments the resources they need.

“The effort will build bridges between manufacturers, solutions providers, industry, and public safety UAS technology users to help save lives,” says a joint press release. Those bridges are increasingly important. A recent study published by DRONERESPONDERS points out that while adoption of drone technology for fire, police, search and rescue, and disaster response has increased dramatically; needs for training, certification, and other operational tools has also increased.

Stay tuned for our upcoming interview with Christopher Todd, Executive Director of Airborne International Response Team (AIRT®) about the work that AIRT and DRONERESPONDERS are doing around the world to save lives with drones.

The following is a DRONERESPONDERS and Commercial Drone Alliance press release.

WASHINGTON D.C. – The DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance – a 501(c)3 non-profit program of AIRT, Inc. – and the Commercial Drone Alliance, an independent 501(c)6 organization working to collectively merge policy with innovation in the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry – today announced a partnership to assist public safety UAS programs in implementing UAS technologies to yield lifesaving benefits.

The partnership between the Commercial Drone Alliance and DRONERESPONDERS will increase dialogue and establish relations between the UAS industry and first responders who are embracing unmanned systems to help lifesaving missions and protect property. According to recent research from DRONERESPONDERS, a majority of public safety agencies are either already operating drones or working on implementing a UAS program.

“We are seeing incredible interest in using drones for public safety at the local, state, and federal levels,” said Lisa Ellman, Executive Director for the Commercial Drone Alliance. “Our partnership with DRONERESPONDERS – theworld's fastest growing non-profit program supporting public safety UAS – will serve to strengthen the ecosystem surrounding how first responders work with industry to deploy drones in the national airspace system.”

Commercial Drone Alliance members include several of the most prominent technology firms in the U.S. and DRONERESPONDERS will explore ways to leverage this expertise to strengthen public safety's use of drones and UAS related technology.

“The Commercial Drone Alliance is home to an amazing roster of companies symbolizing America's technologicalmight,” said Chief Charles Werner (ret.), Director of DRONERESPONDERS. “We welcome the opportunity to work with their members to help deliver cutting-edge UAS-related solutions that benefit public safety agencies across the U.S. and around the world.”

The Commercial Drone Alliance and DRONERESPONDERS will collaborate on various initiatives designed to bring lifesaving UAS solutions and related technologies to public safety end users. Part of their efforts will focus

on maximizing opportunities at marquee industry events such as the upcoming Commercial UAV Expo Americas in Las Vegas to strengthen ties between the drone industry and first responders using UAS technology. DRONERESPONDERS will hold the 2019 U.S. Public Safety UAS Summit in partnership with the Commercial UAV Expo Americas from October 28-30.

“We'll be working directly with the Commercial Drone Alliance in advance of the DRONERESPONDERS U.S. Public Safety UAS Summit at Commercial UAV Expo Americas to lay the groundwork for us to build bridges between the drone industry and public safety,” said Werner. “I expect this will be a hallmark event for the UASindustry.”

To register for the DRONERESPONDERS U.S. Public Safety UAS Summit at the Commercial UAV Expo Americas at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino, please visit: summit.droneresponders.org

About Commercial Drone Alliance

Commercial Drone Alliance is an industry-led, 501(c)(6) non-profit association representing commercial drone end users and the broader commercial drone ecosystem. Our members include key leaders in the commercial drone industry, including manufacturers, service providers, software developers, and end users in vertical markets such as oil and gas, precision agriculture, construction, security communications technology, infrastructure, news gathering, filmmaking, and more. For more information, visit: http://commercialdronealliance.org/

About DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance

DRONERESPONDERS is the world's fastest growing non-profit program supporting public safety UAS. The DRONERESPONDERS non-profit mission is to facilitate preparedness, response and resilience using unmanned aircraft systems and related technologies operated by public safety, emergency management, and non- governmental volunteer organizations around the world. The DRONERESPONDERS Public Safety Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit operating program of AIRT, Inc. For more information on DRONERESPONDERS, please visit:http://droneresponders.org

https://dronelife.com/2019/08/22/the-partnership-between-commercial-drones-and-public-safety-drone-stakeholders-and-why-its-important/