FAA UAS Manager Is Keynote Speaker at MAPPS/NSPS Conference

MAPPS and NSPS (National Society of Professional Surveyors) have announced that Jim Williams, manager for the Federal Aviation Administration's UAS office, will be the keynote speaker at the National Surveying, Mapping and Geospatial Conference, to be held on 13-16 April in Crystal City (Arlington), Virginia, USA.

Williams will speak at  lunch on Tuesday 14 April. He will address the recently published notice of proposed rulemaking issued by his office in FAA, including regulations and policies that will affect surveying and mapping firms that want to fly UAVs and UASs  in the commercial market.

MAPPS has worked with Jim Williams and his staff for several years to assure that business and societal benefits of using UAV/UAS for aerial surveying, mapping and imagery are recognised and empowered in FAA policy, said John Palatiello, MAPPS executive director. UAV/UAS technology is the future of the mapping, surveying and geospatial profession. It is imperative that geospatial firms have the ability to operate UAV/UAS.  Mr Williams understands this, and his office's policies have reflected his understanding of our community as an important stakeholder, Palatiello continued.

Full registration for the conference is required for admission to the keynote luncheon. Information, registration and other conference details can be found at www.surveyingandmapping.net.

MAPPS and NSPS

MAPPS is the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States. The MAPPS membership spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community.

NSPS is the voice of the professional surveying community, with more than 15,000 individual members, primarily within the United States. Through its joint membership programme with the respective state surveying societies, NSPS has a strong constituency base for communicating with lawmakers, agencies, and regulators at both the national and state levels.