ICAO’s First Global RPAS Symposium
The Small RPAS Community Is Recognised
& JARUS’ Key Role Is Acknowledged
On 23-25 March 2015, 608 delegates representing the international RPAS community from 80 countries convened
at ICAO headquarters in Montréal, Québec, Canada to attend ICAO’s first global RPAS symposium. During the first
day, the event took place as a plenary meeting in ICAO’s Assembly Hall and was opened by Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard
Aliu, President of the ICAO Council, 3 keynote speeches were given (FAA, USA; European Commission DG Mobility
& Transport; Google, USA) and 14 presentations were given in 3 themed sessions (RPAS: What is the world doing
& What is needed; Setting the Scene; ICAO RPAS Panel). Day 2 presented 4 concurrent threads during which
72 presentations were given in 10 themed Workshops (Airworthiness; Operations; ATM Integration; Civil/Military;
Technology; National Regulations; Licensing; Safety Management; Security; Legal Matters). On Day 3, the delegates
attended a plenary session on Integration, which was moderated by Nancy Graham, Director Air Navigation Bureau,
ICAO & Stephen Creamer, Appointed Director, Air Navigation Bureau, ICAO. This very successful symposium was
concluded by a plenary session in which Stephen Creamer presented the next steps and the symposium conclusions.
At this event, Small RPAS were not only acknowledged, but they were omni-present. During the coffee breaks and
lunch periods, flight demonstrations were performed in a large netted cage by three UVS International corporate
members: Aerialtronics, The Netherlands; DJI, China; SenseFly, Switzerland (on behalf of Parrot, France). In addition,
the 18 gram Black Hornet helicopter was flown by UVS International corporate member ProxDynamics, Norway, in the
general assembly hall on 23 & 25 March 2015, and life video captured by this miniscule aircraft was beamed in realtime on to the two large projection screens. On the third day, Jon Resnick of DJI, China presented Nancy Graham, on
behalf of ICAO, in plenary session & with the on-stage presence of the workshop moderators, with a Phantom RPA
for inclusion in ICAO’s collection of aircraft, that is on display in the «public» areas of the ICAO building.
Presentation by Scott Dann, General Atomics Aeronautical
Systems during Plenary Session in Assembly Hall
Nancy Graham, ICAO & Jon Resnick, DJI, China
The remittance of the Phantom RPA to ICAO by Jon Resnick, DJI, China
in the presence of the Workshop Moderators
UVS International: Background & Activities - 86 rue Michel Ange, 2nd Building, 2nd Floor, FR-75016 Paris, France
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ICAO RPAS Symposium - Plenary Session in Assembly Hall
Multiple speakers referred to the important role that JARUS (Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems)
was now expected to play relative to producing recommendations for harmonised regulations for all aspects of RPAS
operations relative to Small RPAS (operational, personnel, technical, organisations). The strong growth of JARUS
membership was highlighted (current members: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Rep., Colombia,
Denmark, EASA, Estonia, Eurocontrol, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA - and additional countries
are in the process of joining). JARUS also indicated its intention to contribute to regional and global rulemaking efforts.
It was also indicated that JARUS is at the heart of the European Union’s performance based approach to integrate
RPAS into European airspace and that JARUS is now evaluating how to actively implicate industry in its work. The
first step in this direction will be taken at the JARUS Plenary Meeting in Dublin, Ireland on 16 April 2015.
Our congratulations go out to ICAO for organising this successful symposium, which is bound to be the first of many.
On 26 & 27 March a mini-meeting of the RPAS Panel, as well as a JARUS meeting, took place at ICAO headquarters.
Acknowledgement: CybAero, Sweden is thanked for having sponsored UVS International’s participation in the
ICAO RPAS Symposium.
ICAO RPAS Symposium
Plenary Session in Assembly Hall
UVS International: Background & Activities - 86 rue Michel Ange, 2nd Building, 2nd Floor, FR-75016 Paris, France
Tel.: 33-1-46.51.88.65 - Fax: 33-1-46.51.02.55 - [email protected] - www.uvs-international.org - 30 March 2015 - Blyenburgh © - Page: 2/2