On June 18th, Di-PEGASUS partner University of the Aegean hosted “Digital Aviation Technologies“, the project’s first webinar, under the activities of the Aviation Twin Transition Cluster.
When we talk about “Digital Transition in Aviation,” we refer to the integration of digital technologies to make aviation safer, more sustainable, and more efficient. This includes everything from AI systems that analyse flight data to platforms that improve aircraft part recycling, as well as enabling new aviation modes like drones and electric vertical take-off aircraft. In today’s webinar, we focused on some of these digital technologies and their applications.
The webinar brought together three experts in digital technologies and aviation,Marco Ducci, Anna Palaiologk, and José Luis García for a roundtable discussion covering broad topics around the digital transition in aviation and its implications.
Marco Ducci, Drone Safety and Regulations expert, and CEO at EuroUSC Italia, and of course Coordinator of Di-PEGASUS, discussed the different digital technologies developed as part of the project. These aim to facilitate future drone operations and urban air mobility efficiency in very low level airspace. For instance, Di-PEGASUS is developing a technology to manage large fleets of drones, ensuring they can operate safely in the urban airspace. Di-PEGASUS also focuses on ensuring regulatory compliance and testing new digital aviation technologies in real use cases.
Anna Palaiologk, founder of Future Needs representing the ImAFUSA and RefMap projects, discussed the simulations of different future scenarios that have been created as part of these projects. The simulations allow technology developers to test a variety of socioeconomic criteria with different thresholds to identify optimal future operating conditions. For example, the simulations include different climate change, noise pollution or fuel mix scenarios and allow operators to test how these may affect their businesses. The simulations also provide policy development insights.
José Luis García, president of the Canary Islands Aerospace Cluster (CAAC), and Marcos García Díaz, Aircraft Maintenance Technician and member of the CAAC, spoke about the uncrewed aerial vehicle they have developed, whose vision is to prevent deaths in firefighting as well as at sea. Their aerial vehicle deploys aeronautics for firefighting and search and rescue operations, integrating AI to increase efficiency. It can identify hotspots in cases of flooding or earthquakes and allows for cost effective and safer operations. It can be used at night, for multiple operational hours and in low visibility areas, dramatically changing the efficiency of operations and lowering their cost. Their aerial vehicle is fully operational and in the process of commercialization.
The main section of the webinar focused the discussion on key socio-economic and business issues related to digital aviation technologies.
To begin with, we focused on these technologies’ social benefits.
Marco Ducci explained that the drones’ main benefit for society is their reduced environmental impact as they can help reduce congestion, noise and alleviate pressure on transport infrastructure. In addition, they can support the creation of new jobs (e.g. pilots, maintenance, software development). To this scope, Di-PEGASUS is developing a platform that will assess the social benefits of the project’s digital aviation technologies.
Anna Palaiologk described how the social benefits of new and traditional aviation technologies are conditional upon how these are deployed. She explained that it is biased to project the benefits without considering potential negative impacts of technologies and highlighted the valuable role of EU-funded projects in shaping the narrative around technology deployment and future policymaking. The founder of Future Needs also explained that it is crucial to help shape business cases for new technologies that consider welfare implications, as well as allowing the use of technologies at scale, to make them attractive for more operators.
Next, the discussion shifted on the role of digital aviation technologies in improving resilience and responding to emergency situations. The representatives of the Canary Islands Aerospace Cluster explained that the firefighting drone they have deployed plays a significant role in improving resilience by addressing and preventing wildfires and by conducting search and rescue operations. This aerial vehicle can fly for up to 25 hours, massively expanding the scope of operations, since the same would be impossible for conventional planes. In addition, thanks to its remote controlling, the firefighting drone allows for drastically safer conditions, reduced stress and improved capacity to work in emergency situations for the crew.
Regarding the new business models in digital aviation technologies, and how these may disrupt the existing market conditions, Anna Palaiologk stressed that, while there are trend estimates for the new technologies, we often lack the exact numbers on the intent of aviation companies to adapt to a greener future. Helping provide these figures would allow more operators to change confidently. She explained that data offers more certainty to guide the industry’s choices and investment, and that the platform they are developing as part of projects RefMap and ImAFUSA could significantly help in this regard.
Finally, Marco Ducci talked about the social acceptance challenges around drones. These include safety, as there is often a perception that drones may be dangerous when operating in built-up areas, noise, and privacy concerns. He stressed that it is very important to address these concerns and Di-PEGASUS is working to build acceptance by engaging with the public through surveys, focus groups and demonstrations.
The final part of the discussion focused on the challenges of digital aviation technologies.
García and Díaz shared that the main challenge they have faced as new operators was bureaucracy. While it is absolutely necessary for any flying operations to comply, they commented, regulations should be more flexible to accommodate new companies so that they don’t hinder innovation. They believe that technology innovation alone is not enough, and the right policy and regulatory frameworks should make it easier for new companies to enter the market. This means that the public sector should be more willing to collaborate and move processes faster, both at a local and EU level. One suggestion they have is to let a single responsible entity handle licencing of operations, instead of having to ask individual permissions from multiple organisations. This would be an advantage for both the chosen entity, who would have a full oversight of operational safety, and operators, who would be able to work faster and more efficiently.
Marco Ducci spoke about regulatory complexity as well. Di-PEGASUS Coordinator agrees that aviation is a heavily regulated sector, especially with new AI and autonomous operations arising. He explained that cybersecurity risks are exacerbated with automation, and he added that another key aspect to consider is interoperability with existing systems, as there is inevitably going to be a transition phase where new technologies need to coexist with the older ones.
Moving forward, Anna Palaiologk highlighted the need to collect new data and insights on the operations of new digital technologies. She stressed that this requires significant effort but is essential in order to do large-scale analyses of how technologies are used and whether they are achieving their intended goals. Finally, she added that data scarcity is also a result of large parts of existing data being proprietary and owned by Original Equipment Manufacturers.
This webinar highlighted both the immense potential and the current challenges of digital aviation technologies. As the industry continues to evolve, initiatives like Di-PEGASUS play a crucial role in shaping a more sustainable and efficient future for aviation.
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