Drones - Powerful innovation, Problematic to regulate
Drones are becoming part and parcel of our innovation landscape with great potential to impact daily life in a profound way. Though early days yet, drones are showing great promise for change.
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Drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), are basically flying robots which are either controlled by a remote control device or fly on their own using an onboard software system with detailed flight plans supported by the use of Global Positioning System (GPS).
Though they go by different names such as Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) among others, drones are the most popular name in use.The major differentiator of a drone from other aircraft is that there is no human pilot aboard this type of aerial vehicle which brings interesting opportunities but challenges as well.
It must be noted that the push for driverless vehicles is making use of this same concept but this time for land type vehicles. In general, there are professionally trained and licensed drone pilots who have undertaken relevant industry training. However, a majority of drone pilots are amateurs who may be self-taught and may not hold any certification at all.
Drones in action
There are thousand and one drone applications. They are sometimes used to perform illegal activities such as being used to deliver packages containing drugs and mobile phones to prisons or to do more noble tasks such as deliver packages and vaccines to difficult-to-reach areas. Drone applications are also found in storm tracking, disaster management, search and rescue, agriculture, health, construction mapping, monitoring illegal mining and wildlife monitoring or poaching. The most popular commercial use of drones in Ghana is in the area of filming and aerial photography. These days in Ghana, some couples rely on the use of drones to capture memories during their weddings. Recently, the Ghana Police Service also announced that it is going to use drones to support its policing of the upcoming election which is a very important step in exploring the potential of the use of drones for law enforcement in Ghana. It could aid in traffic management, search for missing persons/vehicles, crime scene management and border patrol, especially since our borders are very porous etc.
Problems in regulation
Around the world, regulators are still struggling to come up with regulations which will ensure the safety of drones so that they do not crash into one another or run into manned aircraft.USA recently issued drones regulations (https://www.faa.gov/uas/ ) on August 29, 2016.
Security agencies are also worried that terrorists can use drones to deliver bombs which is a nightmare scenario.
In Ghana, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) regulation on September 1, 2016 issued “Safety Directives on Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS).” (http://www.gcaa.com.gh/extweb/images/final%20rpas%20safety%20directive.pdf).
Under this regulation, users of drones are obligated to officially apply to the GCAA to secure approval before they can acquire or use them.This is in line with the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention, 1994), which regulates the operation of all aircraft including RPAS and also supplement the provisions of the Ghana Civil Aviation Safety Regulations, 2011, Legislative Instrument (LI) 2000.
In spite of all these, the reality is that drones are very difficult to monitor. Currently, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) does not have a powerful radar to monitor the small commercial drones being flown across the country at any reasonable distance, since they are very expensive to acquire and deploy.
Even when the regulator locates a drone, it will be difficult to find the owner, especially since most of the ones in use are not licensed. Also, it is important in regulation to have drone countermeasures. Typically, the military is able to shoot down such offending drones. However, for small commercial drones flying in densely populated public areas, shooting them down from the sky can create serious public safety challenges.
Simply put, long-tested regulations and rules for traditional manned aircraft fall short of dealing with issues drones bring in their wake. Total new sets of rules are required instead of modification of existing ones to deal with new challenges drones bring. It is very important to note that successful regulation will be one that can ensure a good balance between ensuring public safety and promoting innovation.
Conclusion
Drones are here to stay. Over time, workable countermeasures against small commercial drones will be developed. In the meantime, stakeholders, especially regulators,the government and the security agencies, must ensure their action and inactions do not prevent Ghana from deriving the maximum benefits from this innovation, while at same time ensuring there is sanity in our sky.
The writer is the Executive Director of Penplusbytes.org - you can reach him at [email protected]
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