The Global Urban Air Summit hosted aerial mobility technologies, partnerships, and debates.

Farnborough International hosted the inaugural Global Urban Air Summit in the UK from September 4th to 5th this year. The conference brought together key players and regulators in the aerial mobility industry with the goal of stimulating productive conversations between key stakeholders. “The event [included] two days of conference sessions, networking, knowledge sharing and demonstrations, with the international community brought together by GUAS set to play a key strategic role in driving the industry forward,” according to the host.

Image Source // FINN

“Already today, the race is on – 150 prototypes have already been announced to the market.” Guillaume Thibault, a partner at Oliver Wyman, took the stage at the event to highlight the rapidly expanding industry and the technologies developed by companies hoping to reach the market soon. However, it’s evident that the the technology is far ahead of the necessary regulation and infrastructure for standing up commercial operations. Therefore, a main focus of the conference was pointed discussions surrounding aerial mobility operations and quantifying the market size to properly capture what is required from the regulatory perspective.

Operators such as Uber Air are eager to enter the market with nearly developed eVTOLs, but depend on collaboration and feedback from agencies such as the FAA and the UK’s CAA. The conference was an opportunity for innovators to demonstrate advances in electrification, autonomy and connectivity – all technologies that will be advantageous to the safe, reliable, and predictable operation of urban aircraft.

Related: Uber Looks to Expand eVTOL Ride-share Partners at GUAS 2019

The company has already selected six partners, but at this week’s Global Urban Air Summit (GUAS) at Farnborough International, Uber said more could be added. // Uber

In addition, there are many ways the aerial mobility industry can adopt strategies already implemented in more mature industries. These were shared throughout the two days, and included an exciting presentation from Stu Olden, Senior Commercial Manager of Williams Advanced Engineering, who said learning from parallel industries was the high point of the summit. He likened the challenges to those of the Formula One industry – reliable battery management systems, environmental pressures, and rapid technology development were all touched upon.

Why it’s important: GUAS is the first event of its kind in the sector, and concentrated more on practical engagement between the communities of interest. Gatherings of this sort are a step in the right direction for coordinating how urban air mobility will navigate a complex regulatory environment and integrate with other transportation methods.

Source // Farnborough International

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