Drone Invasion

It's easy enough to dismiss a single story on a subject as being reactionary or over stating the case.  But, when the volume and scope increases to the point where you can't open a newspaper or visit an online news source without finding some mention of a particular subject, you know for sure a topic has arrived.  And so it is with an issue this blog has covered since inception: the far reaching implications of the drone/Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)/Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) invasion of the public sector that is currently underway.  In keeping with that point, your consideration of some stories and reports from the past 60-days or so, is invited below:

Australia Teaching Drones a New Trick: Playing Lifeguard (Dvice, September 17, 2012)

Drones in Domestic Surveillance Operations: Fourth Amendment Implications and Legislative Responses (Congressional Research Service, September 6, 2012)

Television Stations Could Start Using Drones To Cover News Stories (CBS DC, September 4, 2012)

Brit Brother: Drones to Watch Over UK Streets (Russia Today, August 24, 2012)

Aeryon Scout micro-UAS Selected for sUAS Storm Response Study (sUAS News, August 13, 2012)

Boeing Demonstrates Drones That Perform Like ‘Swarm Of Insects’(CBS Seattle, August 10, 2012)

FAA Chief Addresses Nation's Largest Drone Trade Show (LA Times, August 7, 2012)

The Emerging ‘Drone’ Culture (Editorial, Miami Herald, August 6, 2012)

Are You Ready for Civilian Drones? (Emergency Management, August 3, 2012)

EU Plans Drone Network to Nab Illegal Immigrants (Russia Today, July 27, 2012)

Comment: Get the idea?  The nation is on the cusp of a paradigm shift that will have profound impact on the geospatial community and Emergency Services Sector.  If you work in one of these professions, try as you may, it's a revolution you won't be able to avoid.  Probably best to be on the proactive, rather than reactive, side of that reality.

Lead photo: http://www.suasnews.com/