Why It Pays To Be Prescient

We must embrace opportunities from ‘over the horizon’ where we can’t see.

It pays to be prescient; especially when trying to create something no one has done before. 

No risk=No reward.  

However, my approach to the creation of, and ongoing technical convening of the World of Drones and Robotics Congress (WoDarRC) is to look to see what we want and need for an emerging industry, not just riding other peoples’ waves.

In order to have a safe, secure, and evolving drones industry we need to grow and evolve the ‘supporting architecture’.  This way of systems-led thinking allows to imagine all parts of the ecosystem and the potential businesses that need to be created to fill these niches.

Way before #GatewickGate and the drone incident that caused global consternation, we here in Australia were already having conversations and starting businesses in the command and control, and counter-drone world.  

Indeed, in 2015 I stated frequently that the ‘anti-drone drone is the new drone’ and I wasn’t far wrong.  

Why do we create and curate the WoDaRC? Well, always a business conference first and tech expo second I wanted to have a place where Australian start-ups and enterprise could find the architecture they needed from a corporate perspective whilst maintaining their agile status.

I’d like to share this blog/opinion piece from  Mike Monnik, Chief Technology Officer from Drone Sec www.dronesec.com so you can hear what a gutsy Aussie business got from being involved with our very first WoD back in 2017.

www.worldofdrones.com.au

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The following is by Mike Monnik: CTO of Drone Sec

World of Drones and Robotics Congress (WoDaRC) provides platform for drone security, privacy and safety discussions. 

As we reach a major milestone at DroneSec, with the launch of our Threat Intelligence Platform for drone, counter- drone and UTM systems, we reflect on some of the key milestones that brought us to this point. 

It was a couple months before the first ever World of Drones Congress (now Drones and Robotics) in 2017. At the time, DroneSec was in its infancy and security research of UAV/UAS/RPAS was just starting to really take shape. Applications for talk submissions on “drone security” were continually being rejected for “scaremongering” or “restricting the innovation of the industry.” This was counter-intuitive to what we wanted to speak on – correct security frameworks and guidelines to reinforce safe and secure use of drones, increasing the innovation and reducing the possibility of restrictions on the industry. That being said, several international forums were not keen on hearing from a security perspective. 

Enter WoDC – abstract submitted and talk approved! Who would have thought that in a yet-to-mature industry, a conference would be willing to support the topic? Preparations were made, flights booked to the beautiful Brisbane, and the event began. One of my first observations was the incredible range of ages and demographics of attendees – some seemed very young and others much older; some well experienced in RC systems for their whole lives and yet others moving into the area laterally from a myriad of interesting backgrounds. It was conversations within the crowd that I learned of drone security applications for the commonwealth games, privacy concerns from government departments and incredible innovation from humanitarian efforts – mine clearing, anti-poaching, automated security guards, you name it. 

When it came time for my talk, the room was packed; even overflowing out of the door– there were a number of speakers involved and from a unmanned systems perspective, there were many attendees interested in the cyber security applications of drones. WoDC gave me a platform to be able to talk and present on topics within drone security, hacking, hardening and counter-drones. We discussed the various entities searching for No-Fly-Zone bypasses, Radio-Frequency hacking tools and techniques, airport flyover bragging rights and workshops on protecting and defending drones. Some of these conversations have turned into relationships we still hold today, even more resulted in new service lines and offerings for DroneSec based on emerging needs. 

I look back at that first WoDC fondly, with the open-mindedness to discuss the ‘security’ topics most would find constricting of the industry. Shift forward, and most drone programs require security assurance for the benefits of their customers, stakeholders and regulatory bodies. Instead, we find security is enabling clients to move faster, build with confidence and even come up with new applications of unmanned technology. It is this forward thinking that is synonymous with the industry; somehow, WoDC was able to marry this idea with the rest of the conference. I would encourage any organisations looking to start, uplift or secure their drone program to attend the WoDaRC – this year likely a hybrid due to COVID19 – and learn, meet and discover what it’s like to be part of the ‘cohort’. 

The DroneSec team plan to take part, relay some learnings around drone ‘threat actors’ and share some of our in- field learnings with other organisations on the bleeding-edge of drone technology. We encourage everyone to take advantage of the ‘character’ of the conference; that is open sharing of ideas, collaboration on complex projects and building relationships with the other attendees. Three years later, and we’re still interacting with Dr. Catherine Ball, other WoDaRC speakers and attendees in a rapidly evolving environment. Reflections are important for assessing growth and in this case, we attribute a large part of our international growth to the springboard provided to us by WoDaRC. We hope to see you all there!