Is Nevada an industry leader in drones?
By Nicole Raz, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Local drone industry insiders say they are working to make Nevada the industry’s “global destination of choice” and consistently tout Nevada as an industry leader.
But is it?
The Review-Journal caught up with several out-of-state industry experts at the Commercial Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Expo held Monday through Wednesday at the MGM Grand to find out. In short, the answer is mostly yes, Nevada is an industry leader nationally, but the jury is still out on its place in the global industry.
Baptiste Tripard, director of business development and strategy for strategy for Intel’s New Technology Group, which works on commercial drones, said Nevada is “a little bit ahead” because of its Federal Aviation Administration designation as an unmanned aerial systems test site. Nevada is the only state authorized as a test site; the other six test sites are state agencies, airports or universities.