The Choctaw Nation’s 2nd Annual Emerging Aviation Technology Conference promises to be the most significant UAS (“drone”) related conference to-date in the State of Oklahoma. In May 2018, United States Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced ten Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program (IPP) sites in the nation representing a mix of states, counties, cities and tribes. The purpose of the UAS IPP was to accelerate safe UAS (i.e. – “drone”) integration into the national airspace system by:

• Identifying ways to balance local and national interests related to drone integration
• Improving communications with local, state and tribal jurisdictions
• Addressing security and privacy risks
• Accelerating the approval of operations that currently require special authorizations.

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) was one of the ten IPP sites that were selected as well as the only tribal government lead participant. The Choctaw Nation IPP team includes industry partners such as the Intel Corporation, GE/AirXOS, CNN and Iris Automation. The team also includes the Noble Research Institute, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Oklahoma.

This year’s conference will focus on the IPP progress as well as future aviation technology opportunities such as urban air mobility (i.e. – “flying air taxis”). Several nationally-prominent speakers from the White House, NASA, FAA and industry will participate in the conference.

All conference events will be held in the Choctaw Nation Event Center just north of the Choctaw Casino and Resort in Durant, Oklahoma. More details will be posted at http://www.cnoaa.com when available.