The AW-Drones Coordination and Support Action intends to contribute to the safe use of mass market drones by facilitating the on-going EU regulatory process for the definition of rules, technical standards and procedures. The Action will benefit from the contribution of the most relevant stakeholders in the drone value-chain including drone suppliers, operators, academia and regulators. These actors will support, from their respective point of view, the collection of data, information and perspectives regarding the use of drones worldwide and contribute to its analysis supporting EASA's regulatory due-process. In particular, data, information and perspectives will include: · Current standardization activity and standard perspectives for evolution of drone products and services · Research works regarding safety and incidents involving drones · Local and regional solutions adopted by aviation safety regulators to address mass market drone operations · Application issues emerging from different market application of drones · Elements hampering wide distribution and mutual recognition of drone-based product and services between States Information gathered will be critically assessed and benchmarked using defined criteria taking into account the needs and opinions of the different stakeholders of the drone value-chain. Data useful for the validation of specific products or technical requirements will be structured systematically and correlated with appropriate confidence measures. The objectives will be to: · Provide a knowledge-base of "best practice" and data supporting the EASA's regulatory process · Contribute to the development and subsequent validation of a well-reasoned set of technical standards appropriate for all relevant categories of drones

SKYOPENER will increase the use of Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) for civilian applications by contributing to the European RPAS Steering Group's roadmap for the integration of civil RPAS into the European Aviation System. SKYOPENER will provide a whole operational process and a system that will demonstrate higher capability through Communication, Navigation and Surveillance innovations in RPAS. The SKYOPENER system will be designed, in the first instance, for specific operations for tactical RPAS, that are under 25kilos but subject to national aviation authority regulation, operating at Very Low Level of operation (under 500ft). SKYOPENER will include live trials in Switzerland for which we will gather stakeholders implicated in the operations of RPAS including RPAS operators, civil aviation authorities, air navigation service providers, RPAS manufacturers, satcom service providers etc. The newly developed system will be the result of the integration of a range of components which will combine technologies such as GNSS, satcom and security tools. GNSS will be used for the safety navigation of RPAS. The project will provide a command and control link that uses communication through multi-band satellite and radio and will address the redundancy issue of communication systems It will also feature a surveillance system with detect and avoid functions that will be based on GNSS, system wide information management and satcom. Such a system will be less costly, less complex, lighter and easier to roll out than those that are currently using mode-S transponders. SKYOPENER project brings together a seven partner team with a range of expertise and skills. Additionally we will include in the project a stakeholder group which will advise on the requirements of the project, witness the trial operations and support in the dissemination of results from the project. The range of partners, stakeholders and European associations give SKYOPENER a European scope.