Dr Renee Bartolo, current chair of the Territory's Drones Industry Network Committee has recently been nominated to the board of the Australian Association for Unmanned Systems (AAUS), Australia's largest industry advocacy group for unmanned systems.
AAUS focuses on facilitating awareness, integration and collaboration between industry, academia, government and defence. Through collaboration with peripheral industries, supporting industries and within the resources sectors, AAUS facilitates the uptake of unmanned systems technologies into new market sectors. AAUS plays a pivotal role in identifying research and development opportunities for its membership and providing advocacy at both the state and federal levels of government.
AAUS takes a leadership role in building the infrastructure necessary to allow the unmanned systems technology to grow as a viable industry. From working directly with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to create the highest possible standards in regulations to directing the creation of privacy reforms in Australia for unmanned systems, AAUS is influential.
Renee is the second Territorian on the board of the AAUS (alongside Max Lye, Founder and CEO of SkyMax Group and another member of the Territory's Drones Industry Network Committee).
Renee is the chief remote pilot for the Australian Government’s Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and she is the team leader, Drone Operations and Technology Solutions. Plus she's the chair of the AAUS Diversity and Inclusion Working Group.
Territorian representation on the AAUS is vitally important in assuring that the Territory's drone industry is represented on the national stage and that the unique conditions present for drones in the Territory are considered in national regulations and initiatives.
In 2020 the Territory Government engaged consulting firm EY to provide advice on market opportunities for the growth and development of the drones industry in the Northern Territory. In August 2021 it released an initial directions paper for feedback from the Territory drones industry.