President Trump hosted technology leaders at the White House on Thursday, where they discussed the U. S. regulation of drones and other technologies.
June 22 (UPI) — President Donald Trump hosted a number of technology leaders at the White House on Thursday, where they discussed the legality and regulation of drones in the United States.
The American Leadership in Emerging Technology Event was held, among other goals, to discuss potential for commercial drone activity and government regulation for the aircraft.
At the gathering, Trump continued his anti-regulation posturing — a stance he has held since taking office in January and has applied to a number of U. S. industries.
« Too many years of excessive government regulation, » Trump said at the meeting . « We have had regulation that’s been so bad, so out of line, that it’s really hurt our country. On a daily basis, we’re getting rid of regulation. »
Many in the drone and retail industry, however, believe that regulation is actually needed to explore opportunities that are currently against the law — such as Federal Aviation Administration rules that strictly limit drone use.
In other words, pro-drone advocates want more regulation of the machines because that would at least make some of the activities they want to pursue, like commercial package delivery, legal.
« This is actually one industry where we need a little more regulation, » PrecisionHawk CEO Michael Chasen said at Thursday’s meeting. « The default is actually limiting what drone technology can do, and we need the FAA and the other regulatory bodies to have a little bit more power in opening up those opportunities. »
Existing U. S. laws prohibit several drone activities — including flight after nightfall, flying beyond the operator’s line of sight, and flying over people.
« What we need is to open up the regulations by actually creating new regulations, » Chasen told MarketWatch . « You want regulations saying drones can fly in populated areas, or you can fly over people. »
Still, many technology advocates praised Trump for promising to eliminate other certain regulations that do stand in the way of development, and pledging support for the industry as a whole. Earlier, some of the leaders met with the Federal Communications Commission for the same reason.
At the White House meeting Thursday, Trump also met with leaders from wireless companies and venture capitalists as a means to speed development of emerging technologies and bring them to market quicker. It occurred three days after the president met with leaders of more than a dozen U. S. tech companies to help make government computer systems more efficient.
