A large yellow quad-copter sat as a centerpiece on one of several dozen tables in the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center in Columbia. Throughout the room, GIS and survey professionals talked amongst themselves comparing technology, successes, and even the occasional embarrassing mistake. Procurement experts and government planners connected and talked about the challenges of expanding their operations.
The Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) hosted the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Information Exchange Forum on Tuesday, December 4. This event was the culmination of 18 months of planning and generous donations from MSGIC and KCI Technologies.
The event brought together more than 150 people interested in learning more about using UAS to support public works and transportation. Attendees came from a wide range of institutions including local, state, and federal government, private companies, universities, and nonprofits.
The event kicked off with an overview of how agencies can get started using UAS. Professors from the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) explained the requirements needed to get a commercial UAS pilot’s license. Staff from the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo), the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA), and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provided a summary of policy activities at the state and federal levels. MACo continues to advocate for more control of UAS regulation by local government in their own jurisdictions. Presentations also covered federal and state policy, along with the current and future state of UAS services as a commercial enterprise. FHWA staff provided examples of how the Every Day Counts program will help foster innovation in the UAS field.
Attendees heard from a number of organizations that already use UAS in the field, including Queen Anne’s County, Anne Arundel County, and the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) Police. Some of the projects highlighted include using UAS technology for crash reconstruction, storm water management, construction site monitoring, and bridge inspection.
While many companies and government organizations were able to show off their work, it was the everyday operational details that were at the heart of these presentations. Attendees were able to learn about the legal and programmatic processes that go on before and after a UAS takes flight. This included discussions about budgeting, permitting and public notification, safety, and the differences in staffing emergency and routine work.
The director of the University of Maryland UAS Test Site gave the audience a look at where UAS technology may go in the future and how the University of Maryland partners with other governmental organizations to make that technology accessible to everyone. He presented some of the technical issues to consider such as sensors packages, airspace integration, balancing cost vs. quality, and cybersecurity.
The final session of the day was a panel featuring representatives from different sectors sharing what they learned at the event. They discussed government contracting and procurement, UAS regulations, and how to better coordinate between the public and private sectors. One concern that emerged from the panel was that with constantly emerging technology, an organization that purchases a UAS risks having it become obsolete before they can use it. The economics of UAS programs were discussed along with a comparison of the benefits of contracting vs. developing capacity internally. Speakers from the private sector discussed how UAS services are forcing a change in how contracts are billed from hourly to a model based on the amount of data acquired.
The event generated a lot of interest, with several people commenting that they had not had the opportunity to take such a comprehensive look at UAS technology. The audience was engaged and enthusiastic about the subject area.
BMC is proud to play a role in connecting local government with partners using cutting-edge technology to enhance their public works and transportation operations. Attendees called it “One of the best, functional focused UAS forums I have been to,” and “By far the best information exchange that I have been to in quite some time.”
The presentations are available at https://sites.google.com/a/baltometro.org/december-4-uas-forum
