Keynote Speakers Plan Out, Predict the Future of Unmanned Systems 



By Danielle Lucey



What do a technologist and a futurist have in common? Both believe there is a promising path ahead for unmanned systems, according to Wednesday morning’s keynote speakers at AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems 2014 taking place this week in Orlando, Florida. 



Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell of Alaska, who through his career has aided in the development and use of technologies like cell phones and the spherical camera that enabled Google Street View, kicked off the day by discussing the state’s newly opened Federal Aviation Administration test site. Alaska, which Treadwell called the “flyingest state in the union,” had its first unmanned test site flights last week in a ceremony with FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. 



“What we have in Alaska is the whole dang state,” he said. “We’ve got a tremendous opportunity in our state, and we’re teamed up with Oregon and Hawaii, and we’ve just announced that we’ve teamed with Iceland.”



Treadwell said the massive flying area amounts to the most geographically and climatically diverse flying range for unmanned aircraft. He also said a region like Alaska needs unmanned aircraft for state-specific applications like monitoring volcanoes; exploring for oil and gas, and performing search-and-rescue missions, like for a recent incident involving a friend of Treadwell’s who recently lost his life crab fishing. 



“It would have been wonderful to have much more in the way of assets out there to do that search,” he said.



He highlighted the need to approach UAS with sensitivity to both safety and privacy. 



“If we address our fears directly, we won’t fear this technology. We’ll embrace it,” he said.



Treadwell said the state’s aviation roots are key to its future success with unmanned aircraft. Ten percent of the state’s workforce is currently employed in aviation, and technologies like the ADS-B sense-and-avoid system have their roots in Alaska. 



“My point very simply is this: We have a very strong local market. Come to test. Stay to sell,” he said. 



CEO of innovation research lab Tomorrow and self-proclaimed futurist Mike Walsh also discussed the importance of human interaction with technology. He encouraged business owners to look at their current fleet of young employees and think of what changes they would make to the company, since they will dictate how unmanned systems are used in the future commercial market space. 



“Technology will not be enough. Culture will be key,” he said.



Walsh travels the world, observing how different cultures use technologies, and monitors trends in how they are adopted. He said as the market shifts to new uses, companies that have “the ability to think innovatively and think in a very responsible and engaged way” will be the ones that survive.



He challenged the audience to envision how the big data coming from unmanned systems from all sectors would alter the cities of the future, and how humans could one day leverage machines in a way that enables the two to be greater than the sum of their parts. He urged flexibility and exploring new models of innovation for unmanned systems companies at this turning point in the industry. 



“Think big, think new, but most importantly think quick.”