{"id":737,"date":"2017-10-06T08:00:59","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T06:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aviationadvocacy.aero\/blog\/?p=737"},"modified":"2019-07-23T11:44:24","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T09:44:24","slug":"icao-seeking-out-disruptive-forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aviationadvocacy.aero\/blog\/?p=737","title":{"rendered":"ICAO seeking out disruptive forces?"},"content":{"rendered":"In the October edition of the Aviation Intelligence Reporter<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> we addressed the stages of grief that the manned aviation industry has been passing through on its way to acceptance that UAVs are here to stay and that they may, in fact, be good for the aviation industry.\u00a0 Like a good psychotherapist, ICAO has been listening to the manned industry drone on about its concerns.\u00a0 But ICAO is now moving from passive listener to pro-active problem solver, and it is doing this not only for drones, but for other users of uncontrolled airspace.\u00a0\r\n\r\nIn late August, ICAO hosted an Aerospace Symposium jointly with the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs.\u00a0 This was the third and final in a series: the first held in 2015 in Montreal; the second in 2016 in Abu Dhabi.\u00a0 In conjunction with the aerospace symposia have been regular meetings of a space learning group, organised under the ICAO Air Navigation Bureau and with cooperation of UNOOSA.\r\n\r\nSince its inception in 2014, the space learning group has been an informal group of scholars and representatives from NGOs, trade associations and regulatory agencies nominated by member States to consider ICAO involvement in activities above controlled airspace.\r\n\r\nNot announced at the ICAO-UNOOSA Aerospace Symposium (at least not formally by the ANB, but over coffee in the hallway) are plans by the ICAO secretariat to transform the space learning group into a formal Working Group under the RPAS Panel.\u00a0 The creation of a Panel and Working Groups under that Panel are first steps in the creation of SARPs and PANS. It is to be hoped that the space industry is ready for such treatment.\r\n\r\nWhy space activities would be included under the RPAS Panel is unclear.\u00a0 Perhaps the RPAS Panel is being converted into an Advanced Technologies panel.\u00a0 That certainly seems to be the case, based on statements by the ANB at two back-to-back events in mid-September: \u00a0the Second RPAS Symposium<\/a> and Drone Enable<\/a>, ICAO\u2019s UAS industry symposium.\r\n\r\nAt the RPAS event, the ICAO secretariat acknowledged that its treatment of UAS falls outside the Chicago Convention \u2013 somewhat.\u00a0 Specifically, it was asserted that ICAO can deal with RPAS \u2013 larger UAVs that will be integrated into controlled airspace \u2013 but that its mandate under the Convention in regard to sUAVs is lacking.\r\n\r\nSome drone Industry stakeholders want ICAO involvement.\u00a0 This much was clear from the first day of the RPAS event.\u00a0 Myriad rules across many jurisdictions make compliance with local rules difficult for multi-national companies.\u00a0 It is expensive to ask lawyers to answer questions that might ensure regulatory compliance.\u00a0 If we can all get on the same page, we can all save money.\u00a0 A global framework is needed, or so the argument goes.\r\n\r\nMoreover, member States have asked ICAO to get involved.\u00a0 In response, ICAO has charted a two-tiered track.\u00a0 In regard to RPAS, ICAO announced that it will redraft 18 of its 19 Annexes to the Chicago Convention to accommodate these UAVs.\u00a0 The lone hold-out?\u00a0 Units of measure.\u00a0 It is hoped that nothing in the use of RPAS will change how we measure things.\u00a0 As to sUAVs, ICAO is merely providing \u2018guidance\u2019 to member States.\u00a0 In the hive-mind of the secretariat, this accommodates any issues with jurisdictional mandate, or lack thereof, under the Chicago Convention.\u00a0 Should we expect the same for spacecraft?\u00a0 What is the relationship between sUAVs and rocket ships that warrants the creation of a space Working Group under the RPAS Panel?\r\n\r\nThe dots were connected by Stephen Creamer, Director of the ANB, at the conclusion of the RPAS symposium.\u00a0 Technologies are evolving rapidly; for everything to remain the same, everything must change.\u00a0 Manned aviation resisting change is like asking for a rotary dial phone when you could have a smart phone. \u00a0The computing power involved in SpaceX bringing a first stage back from near orbit and landing it on a platform at sea is enough to bring about what SESAR and NextGen have been trying to do for decades.\u00a0 The message was that the aviation industry stakeholders, particularly ATM providers, need to think about how external activity outside aviation can be brought into aviation.\r\n\r\nAviation Advocacy is never slow to point out how slow IACO can be, and we are allergic to poor thinking, so we are delighted to applaud ICAO for its forward-thinking perspective.\u00a0 sUAVs operating below 150m and spacecraft capable of attaining orbit have little, if anything, to do with the aviation industry.\u00a0 Technologies associated with these burgeoning industries, however, have the capabilities to disrupt the aviation industry.\u00a0 Imagine a space-based ATM platform that uses UTM capabilities to provide real-time, efficient ANS. \u00a0Now imagine if that could be provided to users on a competitive basis.\r\n\r\nThe danger is that ICAO involvement in sUAVs and space-related activities will stifle innovation.\u00a0 This is not an unwarranted concern. \u00a0Even high-level policy statements from ICAO could frustrate this disruptive process.\u00a0 There is a certain circular irony in the thought of a disruptive move disrupting the disruption, so we hope that ICAO remains true to Creamer\u2019s words: wanting to shake things up and disrupt some entrenched actors.\u00a0 Otherwise, it is a bald-faced power grab by an international intergovernmental organization.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the October edition of the Aviation Intelligence Reporter, we addressed the stages of grief that the manned aviation industry has been passing through on its way to acceptance that UAVs are here to stay and that they may, in fact, be good for the aviation industry.\u00a0 Like a good psychotherapist, ICAO has been listening […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,13,19,18,28,30,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-navigation-service-providers","category-air-traffic-management","category-drones-and-uavs","category-safety","category-security","category-unmanned-aircraft-system-traffic-management","category-utm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aviationadvocacy.aero\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aviationadvocacy.aero\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aviationadvocacy.aero\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aviationadvocacy.aero\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aviationadvocacy.aero\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=737"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.aviationadvocacy.aero\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":741,"href":"https:\/\/www.aviationadvocacy.aero\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions\/741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aviationadvocacy.aero\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aviationadvocacy.aero\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aviationadvocacy.aero\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}