EU drone industry could create 150,000 jobs, lords panel says

[LONDON] The drone industry could create 150,000 jobs in the European Union by 2050, a panel of lawmakers from the UK's upper chamber said in a report Thursday.

The jobs will be created as businesses across the EU increase the use of the unmanned aircraft for activities including filming, photography, deliveries and search and rescue, the House of Lords European Union Committee said.

The government should also stem the unregulated use of drones by creating an online database for commercial operators, to be expanded later to leisure users, the panel said. It also recommended that the industry, government and European Commission should cooperate with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration to develop a possible tracking system.

"The growth in civilian-drone use has been astonishing and they are taking to the skies faster than anyone could have predicted," the committee's chairwoman, Detta O'Cathain, a Conservative, said in a statement. "We need to find ways to manage and keep track of drone traffic." The UK should also work with the European Commission to develop a shared manufacturing standard for the craft and widen the use of rules limiting flights over high-risk sites such as airports and nuclear power stations, the committee said.

BLOOMBERG