Officials gearing toward more commercial drone use
The board that oversees operations for the state's fledgling drone industry is continuing to reset the direction of the organization as it adjusts to rapidly changing federal goals.
In separate actions Wednesday, the Nevada Institute of Autonomous Systems board reduced its membership and meeting schedule and made some procedural modifications as the state, one of six that host test sites for unmanned aerial systems, adjusts to a course modified over the past year and a half by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Tom Wilzcek, the Governor's Office of Economic Development's aerospace industry specialist, said the board and the state's autonomous systems office will gear more toward commercializing drone use and matching state resources with Nevada companies on the verge of developing technologies that will advance the industry than on the test sites themselves.
The move is being driven by the FAA's shift to developing regulations for small drones and away from the integration of large drone aircraft into the commercial airspace.
The agency also changed a policy in May that made it simpler for test sites to conduct research by offering blanket authorization to fly anywhere in the country at or below 200 feet.
"We've had conversations with some of the other test sites and they're dealing with the same issues," Wilzcek said. "We're all ready to assist in the testing, but the focus has changed because of priorities directed by Congress."
What that means for Nevada is less policy work for the board, but more attention to the office's efforts to assist Nevada drone companies or to any company that may offer technologies that would be beneficial to the state, such as drought research.
Two of the board's seven members recently resigned for reasons unrelated to the changes and on Wednesday, the remaining five agreed not to replace them. Departing board members include retired Gen. Billy McCoy and Nancy Wong, an executive with Arcata Associates.
The board also agreed to meet quarterly instead of monthly.
But despite the modified mission, board members agreed to begin work on an update to the state's drone privacy policies as required by the FAA. Hearings and solicitations for comments are being planned in the next three months.
The shift in focus began earlier this year when the state's contracted autonomous systems office manager, Bowhead Systems Management, decided to devote its efforts to drone commercialization and stepped down as the state's program manager. Economic development leaders decided to hire its own employees to guide the program and on Wednesday, Chris Walach, director of operations, and Mark Barker, director of business development, were formally introduced to the board as the state's new autonomous systems staff.
Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find him on Twitter: @RickVelotta
