German InterAerial Solutions Expo Focuses on Drone Rules, Innovation

More than 150 drone industry players from more than 25 nations will take flight to Berlin in September for InterAerial Solutions Expo (IASEXPO) to discuss UAS legal issues, market analysis and new improvements in aerial sensor solutions.

Focusing on both the German market and wider global issues, IASEXPO is a sub-event of INTERGEO, billed as “the world’s leading trade fair for geodesy, geo-information and land management.”

Slated for September 26-28, IASEXPO will include exhibition space, forums and an outdoor flight demonstration zone. “The focus has long since moved beyond technical aspects such as drone hardware or software,” IASEXPO Communication Lead Denise Wenzel said in a press release. “The acquisition of attractive startups such as MAVINCI and Ascending Technologies by global players like Intel in 2016, and the great interest being shown in the technology by investors through global companies such as DHL, Mercedes, Yamaha, Amazon and Airbus, demonstrates that the emphasis has shifted to the wide range of possible applications for drones,” she added.

Highlights include:

• Kay Wackwitz, CEO of Drone Industry Insights, will deliver fresh economic analysis of the drone industry in terms of market developments and innovation.
• German air-traffic control UAV Issue Manager Ralf Heidger will reveal how his agency “tackles the challenge presented by the rapidly increasing number of drones in German air space and tracks them precisely within the existing air traffic management system.”
• Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts Professor Friedrich Wilhelm Bauer will speak on the topic of thermal sensory solutions for the inspection and agriculture sectors while Aibotix marketing chief Benjamin Federmann will discuss the growth of drone tech in the construction industry.
• Carlo Zgraggen of Aeroscout will join Maik Neuser from power distributor Westnetz to explain the growing trend of drone deployment for energy infrastructure inspection.
• PrecisionHawk’s Agriculture Enterprise Solutions Executive Bobby Vick will address forest surveying via drone along with Antoine Cottin from Carbomap.

Wenzel said a portion of the forum will address recent changes in German drone regulations.

“The Forum will also provide details about how to obtain the ‘driving license’ required for drones weighing 2 kg or more and about implementing the obligation to register drones weighing over 250 g – because these two regulations will provisionally enter into force on 1 October, just a few days after the trade fair.”