Brian Wynne, President & CEO of AUVSI stopped midway through Expo 2022 to chat with us, stating that “compared to 2021… this year we’re really grateful to be able to get back together, the energy level this year is so much higher, I’m not surprised, but what I am surprised by in some respects is we’ve got so many new companies in the industry, across the domains and we’re really seeing the really large economic interests that pull this technology into the marketplace.”
Adding that before we [the industry] hits the mainstream, we have some regulatory barriers to overcome, and make sure the execution is all good. When asked about the trends in the industry and the push toward complete autonomy, Mr. Wynne stated that “autonomy is no longer a dirty word…we’ve accepted the challenge of getting to a place where vehicles effectively order themselves, and that has as much to do with the platforms and the things that we know and love about this community as it does with the things that are behind the scenes that that are advancing in many industries.”
Mr. Wynne went on to add that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is so important in being able to operate in a GPS-denied environment, we’re starting to see more and more of that, as evidenced by the return of the defense constituents to the Expo. Explaining further “for the defense assets here at this event, its really as much to see what’s going on at the commercial side of the house and figure out how to adapt, and that, to me is what AVSI is all about… all the platforms defense, commercial, civil, in multiple domains.”
AeroNews observed that the regulatory environment is lagging behind technological innovation, essentially out innovating the FAA and other regulatory entities. Mr. Wynne reaffirmed that FAA’s role is not necessarily to innovate, that’s what industry and the technologists do, but that we need to maintain a constructive and robust dialogue, going beyond “hey, you got to give us Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS).” He further stated that there are a lot of other mechanisms at play, and that requires everyone getting on the same page to look at the problem and solve it together. Internationally, drones have been in the news, we’re seeing them used in a peacekeeping and defensive posture.
AeroNews asked what will come of what we’re learning now, the use of drones in a military environment and other careful issues with which we must contend. Mr. Wynne responded “first and foremost, what I think about are the fantastic humanitarian uses that apply the technology too…AUVSI has entered into a partnership with ‘Project Hope’ to provide additional aid to refugees. I know people have a lot of different options to do that, we’re very proud of the fact that we had the opportunity to do that, and a lot of people have stepped up to help in that way and in others of course. But yes you’re right there’s no question in my mind that this technology is being used to fight a good fight and I’m very proud to be associated with that”. Mr. Wynne further added that we’re all striving to get to a more peaceful place and a place where we’re serving one another toward good ends, and the technology is very well positioned to do
that.
When asked what we might expect for Expo 2023, Mr. Wynne excitedly stated that AUVSI just entered into a new partnership with Messe Düsseldorf North America, where they will continue to “marshal all the wonderful quality thinking, subject matter expertise and thought leadership that exists in our community at the conference…they’ll be helping more with the actual trade show. Denver is going to be a great show it’s a great venue for us.” He concluded that they’ve had the largest number of attendees ever (in Denver) and when applied to the new partnership, its going to be an even more energetic Expo than this one.
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