i3 - November/December 2016 - 58

Policy

By Tyler Suiters

G U E ST B LO G

T

his September, for the
second time in a year,
the California Legislature passed legislation
that would shackle the innovation and delay the benefits of
drones. Thankfully, just a few
days later - also for the second
time - CTA helped convince
California's governor to veto the
harmful bill.
California Assembly Bill 2724 would
have impacted the sale and operation
of drones in the state. But CTA tapped
its myriad of Innovation Movement
supporters in the state - part of our
team of "Drone Defenders" - to email to
Gov. Jerry Brown and ask for his veto.
Their case was convincing and straightforward: Drones will deliver as many as
18,000 jobs and more than
$14 billion in economic impact to
California in just 10 years, but only if
an appropriate and balanced policy
framework is in place.
Drones are already changing our lives
for the better - enabling safer tower and
building inspections, expanding options
for photography and film production,
quickly delivering life-saving diagnostics and medicine and improving
crop production. If California had gone
the other way and favored onerous
drone laws, the benefits could have
slowed down. CTA is fighting for the
policies that allow these remarkable benefits to arrive at the lightning-fast speed
of innovation.
58

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

CTA's Tyler Suiters

Drones will deliver
as many as 18,000
jobs and more
than $14 billion in
economic impact
to California
in just 10 years.

We're committed to a collaborative
policymaking process between the
private and public sectors. The federal
government has exclusive jurisdiction

over such drone issues as safety, flight
paths and no-fly zones. But misaligned,
conflicting state and local laws around
the country threaten to throttle nascent
drone technology. Overzealous local
regulation could produce a sloppy
patchwork of rules restricting entrepreneurs and startups, stifling job creation
and confusing professional and recreational drone users.
Among the ways CTA fights for
favorable policy for drones and other
technology is through its annual
Innovation Scorecard, tracking and
grading states on their actions impacting
innovation. According to our most recent
Scorecard, in 2015, six states adopted
policies detrimental to drone use and
innovation often criminalizing drone
operations that are authorized by the
Federal Aviation Administration. None
of those states earned the title Innovation
Champion, which recognizes the states
that best encourage innovation.
This year will be a record-setting year
for drones in the U.S. CTA forecasts sales
of drones will reach record heights in
2016, topping 2.4 million units - more
than doubling last year's sales - with
1.2 million of those units purchased
during the holidays. With so many new
drone owners getting their first taste of
flight, CTA supports the safety campaign
"Know Before You Fly," giving drone
operators the information they need to
fly safely and responsibly.
CTA stands ready for the next defense
of drones - whether it's in California, or
anywhere across the country where this
technology holds so much potential for
consumers, businesses and innovation. n
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

PHOTOGRAPH OF DRONE: OKTAY ORTAKCIOGLU/ISTOCK

California Governor
Committed to Friendly Skies
http://www.cta.tech/Scorecard http://www.DeclareInnovation.com http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/
i3 - November/December 2016

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