The Drone Council South Africa (DCSA) has introduced various programmes aimed at propelling SA’s drone regulatory framework – to empower businesses for the commercial use of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles within low-risk environments.
The DCSA was formed in July 2020 by ICT industry stakeholders, in partnership with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, to accelerate a national drone industry growth strategy that seeks to address SA’s sluggish response to developing modern drone regulations.
While drones are being successfully deployed to support various business and humanitarian projects across Africa, for more sustainable impact in SA, the industry requires the unmanned aerial systems to be fully integrated into supply chains within an enabling regulatory environment.
In an interview with ITWeb, Shaun Ledlie, director of the DCSA and president of the Association of Aviation Training Organisations of South Africa, explained that the council is in the process of signing MOUs with various sector education and training authorities for Project Operations Catch Up 2023. This involves catching up five years of delays in drone regulations, and being up to date with the latest regulations.
The council is also engaging various stakeholders and it has made representations to the Department of Trade Industry and Competition, highlighting the drone economy as a catalytic industry that has advantages for a multitude of local industries.
“The year has been remarkably busy, despite the restrictive environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After our successful launch in July, we managed to engage in several important projects that are key to advancing the drone industry.
“The Project Operations Catch Up 2023 will be achieved through the transformative transfer of skills that are in high demand to individuals, the private sector, state-owned companies (SOCs), government departments and municipalities. We are also in consultation with all stakeholders to explore a remote pilot operators’ certificate regulatory framework. This will empower SMEs to benefit from the commercial use of drone technology within low-risk environments,” explains Ledlie.
The DCSA is a council of chambers which represents 10 different sectors of the economy – and it has a bird’s-eye view of the whole value chain.
Its role in the industry’s regulatory process is to give all participants a voice that is heard, which it seeks to achieve through vigorous consultative processes and awareness programmes throughout the entire value chain – to position SA’s drone industry as a leader in Africa.
Regulatory hindrances
While SA has a strong regulatory framework – being among the first countries in Africa to approve drone regulations, Ledlie believes the biggest challenge facing the country is capacity restrictions within government structures.
There are currently over 200 000 drones in SA and less than 1% of them have been registered, making it extremely difficult to enforce regulatory compliance, he adds.
“The speed at which the industry moves makes it extremely challenging for regulations to keep up with the technology. Many countries have used the SA regulations as a base template for their nation’s regulations.
“The drone regulations have always been enforced. The issue of enforcement is the capacity of the enforcement structures.”
The council is currently working towards a roadshow to educate all municipalities and SOCs and assist them in accessing the drone technologies. It has also appointed chairpersons of chambers who will be assisting the directors of the chambers in advancing the drone industry.
“These are just a few of the activities we are busy with. Our chamber leaders are working extremely hard and are bringing a lot of expertise to the council. The council is engaged at all levels of government. The challenges can all be minimised through sharing of knowledge and empowering the decision-makers with the case studies so that they are able to approve the usage of drones within their organisations with the confidence that knowledge brings.”
In the education sector, the council says it is working towards the advancement of drone-related courses at higher learning institutions.
It has engaged with the South Africa Council of Principals, which governs the Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges in the country, to get the drone curriculum aligned with the South African Civil Aviation Authority regulations, to empower as many students as the industry requires.
“Several universities are starting to develop curricula that will empower their students with a certified drone licence as part of the current degree programmes. Building the country’s fourth industrial revolution training infrastructure is a valuable investment in the success of our future projects,” concludes Ledlie.
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