Like the U.S., Europe is moving to set the ground rules for commercial drone operations. Before drones can fly to make deliveries in crowded urban areas without crashing into each other, a standardized set of regulations is needed. Project Safir aims to help develop a set of ground rules for safe commercial drone operations in Europe.
Project Safir aims to set rules commercial drone operations
David Shimer writes for the NY Times:
“With drone deliveries on the horizon, Europe moves to set ground rules.
As e-commerce continues to grow, drones have the potential to reduce the time, cost and energy needed for many everyday deliveries — assuming they are managed well and used safely.
Before a commercial drone industry can thrive, particularly in the crowded urban areas of Europe, different kinds of drones must be able to fly along their delivery routes without crashing into one another — and under a standardized set of regulations, experts say.
The project, known as Safir, will help the European authorities devise a set of rules for the commercial use of drones. Among the largest companies taking part is Amazon Prime Air, the retailing giant’s drone unit.
The Safir project is happening at a transitional moment for the European Union’s commercial drone industry. The European Parliament and Council just expanded the bloc’s regulatory authority to include all civil drones, and the European Commission is completing a harmonized set of rules for drone use.
To keep up, the European Commission is helping to finance projects like Safir. Analysts say the commercial drone industry could produce more than 100,000 jobs within the European bloc by 2050.”
You can read the entire article about project Safir here [paywall].
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Photo credit: Christophe Archambault/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
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