On the 22nd of this month (December 2018), two individuals were arrested after they were found flying drones for an aerial photo shoot near HAL airport premises, as their drones partially obstructed the flight path of a fighter helicopter at the facility.
As representatives of the drone industry in India, we strongly condemn irresponsible acts that place people and property in danger.
This incident is an example of what can happen when technology and regulations are not in sync with our evolving requirements for safety, security and privacy. It is at a moment like this that a regulator has an opportunity to step in and ensure that such behaviour does not define the drone industry as a whole and does not take away from the positive impact that the technology and industry stand to make.
Incidents such as this should be curtailed through effective and constructive measures implemented by the technology itself rather than reactive measures driven by uncertainty.
In that regard, the recently launched Digital Sky platform will ensure that unless the drone has received permission it cannot take off even if the pilot wants it to. Further, through the nature of permissions given, authorities can quickly locate the point of breach and area of unregulated operations, this level of traceability could act as an effective deterrent in itself.
But for such an innovative solution to be effective, we need the Digital Sky system to be adopted across the board. Indian and foreign manufacturers have to embrace key concepts such as the No Permission-No Takeoff and implement it.
Looking at the long-term, drones will only get smarter and it is all the more important to have a constructive dialogue to keep regulations in tandem with the industry and even go one step further to play a leading role in guiding innovation and this will be possible through initiatives like DICE. Because it is not just one group’s interests in terms of one technology talking to the government, it is all major digital platforms of the country taking a collective and collaborative approach to make the government’s job easier and more fundamentally sound for future developments.
