Drone and Unmanned Aviation Conference 2022

Background

With the way drone technology has developed over the past year, there is obviously never enough time to discuss all the emerging developments in the drone industry. So to keep in touch with all the goings on, we have organised the first edition of the Drone and Unmanned Aviation Conference for2022; which we have scheduled for the 12th and 13th of May 2022 at the Emperors Palace Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

The past year has ushered in significant change, especially in re-imagining the way drones work in communities. The obvious example has been how medical drones changed the way think of medical deliveries, especially in rural parts of Africa that were previously hard to reach. There has been some positive movement too, on the policy front, as a few more hopeful operators received their ROCs from the South African aviation regulator.

Having said that though; there are still teething issues – flights beyond the visual line of sight are still a rare thing locally, a reality which has spelt doom for delivery drones in South; since almost all cargo drone operations will have to go beyond the pilot's sight at some point. It is something of a shame that, having led the technology on delivery drones, South Africa now lags behind countries like Botswana, Malawi and Mozambique who have established thriving delivery operations in their respective communities.

Besides, there are emerging developments with Unmanned Air Mobility, which the local regulator and industry players have to work on if they wish to remain abreast with the rest of the world on drone integration into the mainstream economy. This Drone and Unmanned Aviation Conference will cover all these issues and more; our panel of world-class speakers will lead discussions on the application of product technology (which include drone development status, technology innovation, airspace management, education and training, UAV engineering, design and construction) in the fields of medical supply and general cargo delivery; agriculture, construction, mining, remote sensing, surveying and mapping, forestry and disaster prevention and public safety.

The event will also shine a spotlight on the global key research and application areas of UAVs and innovation in safety supervision, robust discussions on the pace of local drone innovations as compared to the rest of the worldwide, and explore the profound impact UAVs on social development in the future.

Besides, delegates will learn about internationalisation, specialisation, and marketisation of drone technology at a panel discussion that will be conducted with all the leading technology and policy voices in the industry today.
It will be another festival of technology transfer, as all previous delegates have come to know about the flagship drone technology event in the country. It is a great opportunity for drone stakeholders to end another challenging year on a high, networking and learning new insights at a world-class venue that has all the requirements in place to hold events under the new socially distanced and strict health protocols.

Objectives
· To understand the challenges and opportunities presented by drone and UAV technology in an economy
· To discuss the legal framework surrounding drone use and how it impacts operations
· To explore the use of drones in various industrial applications
· To navigate the latest technologies in UAV applications