Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Durant, OK

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) focused on missions involving agriculture, remote infrastructure inspections, public safety and other areas during the IPP. CNO was the first tribal government to be recognized by the FAA as a Public Aircraft Operator (PAO), and was the only Lead Participant to work with the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center on acoustics testing for UAS.

For more information: Visit the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma's BEYOND program webpage.

City of San Diego, CA

The City of San Diego partnered with the nearby Chula Vista Police Department (CVPD) through the IPP to use drones to respond to 911 calls to provide situational awareness for arriving police officers. CVPD conducted 3,900 flights that assisted in 505 arrests and saved 986 patrol resources and obtained the first waiver for close proximity, low altitude beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations. In addition to the CVPD operations, the San Diego team also partnered with Uber to conduct operational demonstrations of food delivery in a dense urban environment and worked with Uber, Motorola and the U.S. Navy to test a variety of pivotal technologies.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Investment Authority, Herndon, VA

Under the IPP, Virginia took on three partners and developed missions and goals that drew on the experience and expertise of each one. With industry partner Wing, the team focused on package delivery. Its partnership with the State Farm insurance company focused on assessing the damage caused by hurricanes, flooding and other weather events. Meanwhile, the partnership with Dominion Energy focused on inspecting power lines and other infrastructure.

For more information: Visit Virginia's BEYOND program webpage.

Kansas Department of Transportation, Topeka, KS

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) focused on BVLOS operations at the outset of the IPP, conducting power line inspections in rural areas of the state. Working with a team of industry partners, including Iris Automation and Kansas State University-Polytechnic, KDOT flew several long routes to demonstrate ground-based and onboard surveillance capabilities, as well as operational procedures.

For more information: Visit Kansas Department of Transportation Integration Pilot Program webpage.

Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, Memphis, TN

The Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority teamed up with FedEx, 901 Drones, Asylon and other partners to cover four focus areas during the IPP: aircraft inspections, security surveillance, foreign object debris (FOD) detection and payload delivery. It focused on enhancing airport security surveillance systems, reducing aircraft general visual inspection times, enhancing personnel safety, enhancing runway/taxiway FOD detection and removal and reducing aircraft parts delivery time to ramp gates.

For more information: Visit the Memphis-Shelby County UAS BEYOND webpage.

North Carolina Department of Transportation, Raleigh, NC

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) IPP team focused on UAS package delivery in rural, suburban and urban areas, with missions including medical package delivery, food delivery and transportation infrastructure inspection. Under the IPP, the team conducted a total of 12,792 flights, working with industry partners Matternet, UPS Flight Forward, Zipline, Volansi and Flytrex at healthcare facilities and neighborhoods throughout the state of North Carolina, in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and at a retirement community in Florida. By the end of the IPP, NCDOT and its partners were able to serve thousands of patients and customers. Leveraging IPP assets, the team was able to meet the immediate need of the COVID-19 pandemic by standing up medical and PPE delivery operations and also conducted significant damage assessment flights after flooding from Hurricanes Florence and Michael.

For more information: Visit the North Carolina Department of Transportation Integration Pilot Program webpage.

North Dakota Department of Transportation, Bismarck, ND

As part of the IPP, the North Dakota Department of Transportation focused on expanding UAS operations at night and BVLOS in multiple types of airspace with UAS missions such as linear infrastructure inspection, crop health monitoring, emergency response and media reporting. During extensive flooding in 2019 and 2020, the team used UAS to survey flood damage and to inform first responders and the public about road and bridge closures. The team obtained the first state agency waiver for operations over people to enable public safety operations.

For more information: Visit the North Dakota Department of Transportation BEYOND webpage.

The City of Reno, NV

During the IPP, the City of Reno focused on missions related to public safety. It partnered with the Reno Emergency Management Services Agency and industry partner Flirtey, Inc. to deliver Automated External Defibrillators and also focused on river rescue operations with the Reno Fire Department and Iris Automation.

Learn more at City of Reno UAS

University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK

During the IPP program, the University of Alaska-Fairbanks conducted the first BVLOS operation in domestic airspace using onboard and ground-based detection systems instead of on-the-ground visual observers. The team's operations during the IPP focused on linear infrastructure monitoring of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and included COVID-19 support monitoring compliance with a "stay-at-home" health mandate.

For more information: Visit the University of Alaska-Fairbanks webpage.