AssureTech #1: Defining a new market class for robotics and autonomous systems, starting with drones

There are a new suite of tools that are needed to ensure that drone operators can demonstrate compliance to regulators and insurers in the drone industry, via its new visionary identification of a new market class; AssureTech.

Similar to FinTech, RegTech and InsurTech — there is a need for a new market class called AssureTech for organizations to demonstrate compliance simultaneously to key stakeholders within the market such as regulators and insurers.

The benefit to drone pilots is reassurance that they have documentation of compliance; the benefit to risk management officers is that an approved and agreed-upon standard of factors has been inspected and verified as safe for flight. The regulator and insurer have an evidence chain of work that gives comfort and security in extending their risk within the operational envelope.

With future regulations transferring the risk further from the regulator and onto the insurer, it is crucial both stakeholders have access to the same raw data but still be able to make independent assessments of an operation.

Companies that embrace the concept of AssureTech will help the industry take the necessary leap forward in enabling the next level of UAV operations to become part of routine operations. By amalgamating professional training, consultancy, and software provision services, companies using drones and individual drone operators flights will be safe and in compliance with industry best practices.

The next ultimate aim that users have — routine beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLoS) flight — requires that operators demonstrate to regulators and insurers that they are aware of the risk and can mitigate it where possible to an acceptable level.

The UAV industry is working on the technology to enable BVLoS operations, including the development of unmanned traffic management systems (UTM), while regulators are concerned with ensuring that the skies are safe, based on proven concepts, procedures, and technologies and the insurers are working out how to quantify these risks to provide sufficient coverage.

All these facets are necessary to give confidence to the regulators, insurers and to the organization. This is what we call AssureTech — it is technology that assures the harmonization of Insurance and Regulatory markets with a common product and entry architecture, with its roots in the evolving robotics industry. The race is now on to find the best products to satisfy this new market-class.

Editor’s Note

Consortiq are a UK National Qualified Entity (NQE) and the training lead on the USA AUVSI Trusted Operator Program (TOP) Committee, alongside their CQNet software and consultancy services. If you would like to explore what they can offer to your organization, email: aleks@consortiq.com or contact me via LinkedIn

Text originally published at consortiq.com.