A collaboration between ResilienX and the Advanced Aerial Innovation Region (AAIR) has created a drone service model covering the city of Detroit and its surrounding area, in which ResilienX makes drone services available to all media outlets.
The essence of the model implemented by ResilienX is that a single operator provides all media outlets with drone-produced content (e.g., aerial footage of an accident or event), and local media outlets can purchase it on a subscription basis.
In addition to the fact that drone footage also appears in the newsrooms of media outlets around Detroit, there is another important lesson from the project. AAIR, which has partnered with ResilienX, is a regional development project seeking new development opportunities for a city that has begun to decline due to the automotive industry’s decay and supports its growth; i.e., it also acts as a kind of incubator.
AAIR is developing a traffic control system, landing sites, and an application for ordering drone services, i.e., providing a complete ecosystem through the AirHUB website. AirHub actually provides a service similar to the European U-space, called the Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) UAS service provider in the United States, which is approved by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). This service provides accelerated authorization for a large number of drone operations up to 400 feet (about 120 meters) in altitude, thereby enhancing the feasibility of ResilienX and similar drone projects.
The project is therefore based on the cooperation of operators, the Federal Aviation Administration, and regional development agencies, which not only help launch drone businesses that reflect market needs but also support data collection, sharing, and experience evaluation as important parts of the program. This way, local good practices can be implemented at the national level.
CloudIA works on similar projects in Hungary and is looking foward to receving queries of any stakeholders interested in participating.