Dear all,
I would like to share an update regarding the last EASA Stakeholder Advisory Body (SAB) Drone & UAM Community Steering Group (D.CSTG) and EASA Member States Advisory Body (MAB) UAS Technical Advisory Body (TeB) meeting. I have attached the presentation used over the 2 days and also the updated presentation delivered to the EASA TeB.
Over the past few weeks, the D.CSTG leadership team, Julie Garland (JEDA) and Andrea Signorini (ASD) as Co-Chairs, Justin Chirea (EASA), and Dannick Riteco (DAE) as Secretariat, has been working to establish the four Activity Groups (AGs) we defined during the D.CSTG kick off meeting and later approved by the SAB Plenary:
- AG Open Category
- AG Specific Category
- AG Certified Category & UAM
- AG U-Space and Airspace Integration
During the D.CSTG kick off, we as well generated a list of around 50 WPIs between the 4 AGs. When this list was presented at the SAB plenary in July as a preliminary list the feedback was that each AG should narrow its scope to a maximum of three Work Program Items (WPIs) as the scope of our work program was far too ambitious and needed to be narrowed regarding priorities.
We invited experts to nominate themselves as volunteers to participate in the AGs and in Chair roles. We received significant responses. Initially the Terms of Reference (ToRs) set out that the AGs will be formed and that the Chairs will be voted by the AGs. Because of time constraints and the limited volunteers for Co-Chair roles and the large number of volunteers we reached out to Ansgar Sickert (SAB Plenary Vice Chair), and we received approval for the D.CSTG leadership team to nominate key individuals to propose initial WPIs for each AG and to agree to the Co-Chair roles. This allowed for the AGs to be formed and to commence the AG proposal which will require SAB consensus to commence the activities. Also, we need to onboard all volunteers onto the SAB Collaborative Platform which is a huge undertaking by itself.
When forming the leadership teams, we looked to balance industry representation, experience and use cases/sectors. This inclusivity is vital for obtaining SAB plenary approval and for ensuring long-term buy-in from all affected communities, such as the rotorcraft and General Aviation sector, leading to more widely accepted outcomes.
Baptiste Simonot (FPDC) and Henri Hohtari (Wingtra/DAE) were appointed to lead the Open Category AG and we are engaging with an OEM to bring them onboard too. Further considerations for supporting them with a Secretariat involving Open Category UAS manufacturers are ongoing.
Dannick Riteco (DAE) was appointed co-lead of the Specific Category AG alongside Thierry Vandendorpe (Airbus/ASD), with Alejandro Del Estal (Rigitech/JEDA) serving as Secretariat.
For the U-Space and Airspace Integration AG, co-chaired by Jean Pierre de Muyt (JEDA/Skeydrone) and Daniel Gutierrez (ASD/ITG), with Koen de Vos (GUTMA) and Luigi Brucculeri (CANSO) as Secretariat.
For the Certified Category Co-Chairs are Thierry Vandendorpe (ASD) & Luc Vesco (JEDA) and Secretary Joan Serra (GAMA). Further considerations for involving within the Chair team eVTOL manufacturers are ongoing.
We are happy to also share with you the Terms of References of the Activity Groups Open Category, Specific Category and Airspace Integration & U-space. Furthermore, we also share with you the description of 5 Work Programme Items (WPIs):
- Simplification & Harmonisation (by Open Category)
- BVLOS Roadmap implementation (by Specific Category and Airspace Integration & U-space)
- Management of Modifications (by Specific Category)
- Geozones (by Airspace Integration & U-space)
- U-Space implementation issues (by Airspace Integration & U-space)
We would kindly ask you to share these documents with their members and to review and provide us with feedback until Monday November 17 9.00 AM CET. On November 18th, the D.CSTG will vote on accepting the WPIs and if accepted the WPIs will be presented to the SAB Plenary for approval on November 26.
When the SAB has approved the work programme, we can finally begin our work. For this reason, we are asking you to kindly fill in the attached google form so that we can add you to the SAB Collaborative Platform and become members of the D.COMM and the AGs.
https://forms.gle/XRUbHSGiaGA584v5A
Thank you for distributing this information to your member associations and your feedback.
Best regards,
Dannick Riteco (As D.CSTG Industry Secretary)
