{"id":27044,"date":"2023-10-30T23:28:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T23:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=27044"},"modified":"2023-10-30T23:28:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T23:28:08","slug":"michigan-central-mdot-launch-advanced-aerial-innovation-region-in-detroit-to-accelerate-commercial-drone-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/michigan\/michigan-central-mdot-launch-advanced-aerial-innovation-region-in-detroit-to-accelerate-commercial-drone-development\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Central, MDOT launch Advanced Aerial Innovation Region in Detroit to Accelerate Commercial Drone Development"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Michigan Central and the Michigan Department of\nTransportation (MDOT) announced today the launch of Detroit\u2019s Advanced Aerial Innovation\nRegion \u2013 an initiative that will position the state as a leader in\nnext-generation aerial mobility and drone technology by attracting startups,\ncatalyzing new high-skill jobs, advancing policy, and driving commercialization\nand adoption of drone technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the first cross-sector, advanced aerial urban initiative\nin the United States, the innovation region aims to future-proof Michigan\u2019s\nstatus as a mobility solutions epicenter and stake a claim to jobs and economic\nopportunities in an industry predicted to top $50 billion by 2030. Covering a\n3-mile radius around Michigan Central, the two-year project will provide open,\nshared infrastructure and services that enable commercial drone development\nwhile ensuring safety in the air and on the ground. Participating drone\noperators will have access to concept and operational support. The initiative\nwill propel solutions focused on addressing accessibility, safety, tech equity\nand regulatory challenges by testing potential commercial drone uses \u2013 ranging\nfrom delivery of medical supplies, consumer goods and manufacturing materials\nto infrastructure inspection. Initial usage pilots will launch early next year.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michigan Central will provide resources for foundational\ninfrastructure, community engagement and skills training. MDOT will manage the\nnetwork and define operating parameters, as well as data and safety protocols.\nFlight data from all pilots will feed the initiative\u2019s overarching goal to\ndrive drone operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). Gaining Federal\nAviation Administration (FAA) BVLOS approval would reduce existing barriers to\ncommercial development and allow operators to fly drones without maintaining\nvisual sightlines, opening the door for longer-range delivery and a variety of\nnew potential uses in Southeast Michigan. Strategic partners Newlab and\nAirspace Link will support activation and development in the Advanced Aerial\nInnovation Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newlab will collaborate with Michigan Central and MDOT to\nmobilize startups and industry partners through pilot projects aimed at\nde-risking and accelerating the commercial scale of high-value drone use cases.\nAirspace Link will provide the platform and processes to support safe\noperations in a real-world urban environment. Its platform creates digital\nmapping using more than 60 data sources to help drone operators understand\nground and airspace risks at any given time while simplifying Unmanned Aircraft\nSystems (UAS) flight authorization requests to the FAA. Airspace Link will also\nboost visibility for the public so that Detroit residents can understand which\nflights, plans and programs will happen in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initiative will offer open access to shared resources\nand services, allowing pilot programs to test and evaluate drone capabilities\nfor various uses. This will provide valuable insights for optimizing\nconditions, validating and expanding commercial applications, meeting demand,\nand economic feasibility. The results have the potential to mobilize the entire\nadvanced aerial mobility ecosystem of operators, startups and industry\nstakeholders by breaking down existing barriers to commercial development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis first-of-its-kind collaboration will be the framework\nthat puts Detroit in the fast lane for advanced aerial innovation and job\ncreation,\u201d said Carolina Pluszczynski, Michigan Central\u2019s chief operating\nofficer. \u201cAs we start launching pilot projects next year, we will prioritize\nideas that bridge equity gaps, improve safety and make it easier for people to\naccess the goods and services they need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMichigan is on the cutting-edge of mobility innovation, and\nwith the launch of the new Advanced Aerial Innovation Region in Detroit, we\nwill continue leading the way,\u201d said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. \u201cThis new\ninitiative is the result of an effective partnership between Michigan Central\nand the Michigan Department of Transportation. Michiganders have always been\npioneers in the mobility space and now, we are taking to the skies, finding new\nways to use next-generation transportation to deliver medical supplies, food\nand so much more. Let\u2019s keep getting it done.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Advanced Aerial Innovation Region initiative builds on an MDOT, Michigan Central and Michigan Aeronautics Commission (MAC) study<\/a> that analyzed the potential societal and economic benefits of the commercial use of drones. The study also looked at the feasibility of flying drones beyond visual line of sight along key corridors in Southeast Michigan and Ontario. Active collaboration with Ontario will continue within the innovation region to explore uses that increase cross-border supply chain resilience and inform advanced aerial policy between the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis initiative and strong partnership will further\nreinforce Michigan as a global leader in the development and deployment of\nadvanced mobility technologies that will benefit society, protect the\nenvironment and strengthen Michigan\u2019s economy,\u201d said State Transportation\nDirector Bradley C. Wieferich. \u201cMichigan is leading the development and\nimplementation of a coordinated advanced air mobility strategy that will\nleverage Michigan’s existing infrastructure, industrial and defense base, and\nsupply chain networks to gain a competitive advantage in the sector.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critical to the initiatives\u2019 success is the ability to\nconvene cross-sector stakeholders, made possible by the ground-breaking\npublic-private partnership between Michigan Central, the State of Michigan and\nthe City of Detroit. This framework creates open dialogue and invites new ways\nof working together on advancing mobility and innovative solutions to societal\nchallenges that will benefit all Michiganders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Office of Future Mobility and Electrification is\npleased to join our partners in supporting the Advanced Aerial Innovation\nRegion,\u201d said Justine Johnson, Michigan\u2019s chief mobility officer. \u201cThis\ninitiative builds on our broader efforts to strengthen Michigan\u2019s leadership in\nthe next generation of mobility and transportation technologies. As the\nmobility industry continues to grow and evolve, we are laser-focused on\nleveraging new solutions and entrepreneurial resources to keep Michigan at the\nforefront of mobility for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNewlab is focused on breaking down the barriers that deep\ntech startups face getting technology to market,\u201d said Newlab Chief Business\nOfficer Liz Keen. \u201cPolicy is the most significant barrier for advanced aerial\nmobility startups. Pilots enabled through this collaboration will generate\nreal-world data to help advance policy in the space while also allowing\nstartups to validate commercial use cases with potential customers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growth in the advanced aerial mobility sector represents a\ngenerational economic development and job creation opportunity for the State of\nMichigan. A Precedence Research analysis predicts the drone market will grow\nthreefold by 2030, from $17 billion today to more than $50 billion, while the\nurban air mobility market will catapult from $2.6 billion to $28 billion over\nthe next seven years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public benefit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Advanced Aerial Innovation Region partners are committed\nto community engagement throughout the two-year pilot period and to ensuring\nthe benefits of Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM) and Unmanned Aircraft Systems\n(UAS) can be shared by all. Drones have the potential to close accessibility\ngaps through the delivery of critical goods to people with mobility challenges.\nUrban air mobility development has the power to expand economic opportunities\nfor citizens impacted by transit gaps in communities historically disconnected\nfrom mainline transportation networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project will also cultivate workforce development\nopportunities and skills programs to create a pipeline of talent prepared to\njoin the emerging advanced aerial economy. Leading academic institutions have\npartnered with Michigan Central to conduct research aimed at advancing AAM and\nUAS technologies, policies, and increasing public awareness. The first project\nto launch is a study with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to\nbuild a model that represents future drone flights in Detroit. The goal is to\nidentify inequities in the predicted drone traffic and infrastructure and\ndetermine if policy interventions might be required to ensure a more equitable\nfuture as the industry scales. In the future, as drones and other\nnext-generation aircraft are more widely adopted in mobility applications, AAM\nhas the potential to lower emissions by reducing ground traffic and to enable\nnet-zero transportation with these aircrafts running on battery power and or\nother alternative fuels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michigan Central and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced today the launch of Detroit\u2019s Advanced Aerial Innovation Region \u2013 an initiative that will position the state as a leader in next-generation aerial mobility and drone technology by attracting startups, catalyzing new high-skill jobs, advancing policy, and driving commercialization and adoption of drone technology. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-michigan","category-unmanned-systems"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27044"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27045,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27044\/revisions\/27045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}