The Ascent of Autonomous Flying is the topic of this year’s edition of the German Canadian Concourse – an innovative technology, growing in economic importance, and a complex topic from a legal and political perspective. The term autonomous flying is a broad term which refers to flying an aerial vehicle with little to no intervention of a pilot or operator. A popular example (with various degrees of autonomy) is a drone, the colloquial term for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

The primary focus of this year’s GCC will be on drones, their applications and the infrastructure into which UAVs are imbedded. While we are aiming to capture the full scope of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), we invite speakers and attendees to place the topic in a broader perspective. The introduction of unmanned vehicles in the air requires e.g. advances in technology, challenges the status quo in airspace management and operations, and raises social and environmental questions.

The GCC 2017 will investigate Germany’s and Canada’s approaches to further the development of an unmanned aerial infrastructure. We will compare regulatory initiatives paving the way to introduce autonomous commercial services in airspace and we will look into economic opportunities for business applications related to drones, along the following pillars:

• Technology cooperation – Existing industrial and research collaboration and areas for expansion
• Commercialization and entrepreneurial eco-systems – Business models and economic opportunity for growth in new and related business eco-systems
• Airspace models – Approaches to introduce an unmanned aerial infrastructure
• Regulatory aspects and security – Comparison of German and Canadian legislation and lawmaking initiatives
• Social and environmental impact – Social acceptance and benefit

Join the GCC 2017 LinkedIn group “Ascent of Autonomous Flying”, share your vision on the future of autonomous and unmanned flying and influence the program of the GCC 2017 through your contributions to the discussion.

Confirmed Speakers and Panelists

Keynote:

Tristan Serretta
Chief Operating Officer
Airbus Aerial

“UAS in Daily Operations – Amusing Dreams or Reality Soon?”

Speakers / Panelists:

Mark Aruja
Chairman of the Board
Unmanned Systems Canada

Ryan Coates
Chief, Policy, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Task Force
Transport Canada

Michel Cordeau
Business Development Coordinator
Centre d’Excellence sur les Drones – UAS Centre of Excellence

Alexis Dorais
Remote Sensing Analyst
Enfotec Technical Services Inc.

Brian Guimond
Manager Military Operations and Unmanned Aircraft
NAV Canada

Raimund Kamp
Deputy Director Airworthiness, Operations, Licencing, Aviation Safety
Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI)

Dr.-Ing. Andreas Lamprecht
Managing Director
AirMap Deutschland

Kerry Moher
Vice President – Business Development
Fresh Air Educators, Inc.

Michael Schmidt
Managing Partner / CEO
Hanseatic Aviation Solutions

Abdo Shabah
Founder / CEO
Humanitas Solutions

Dr. Reiner Stemme
Founder / CEO
RS.aero

More of speakers and panelists announced soon

Partners / Session Hosts