NTIA Releases Combined Draft Best Practices Drone Guide, Will Hold January Meeting

The NTIA released a combined draft document that outlines voluntary best practices for the private and commercial use of drones and plans to schedule a meeting in January to discuss it. John Verdi, NTIA director-privacy initiatives, sent an email Wednesday with the combined draft to participants involved in the multistakeholder process that was launched earlier this year. "The goal is for everyone to review the merged draft 'best practices,' identify recommended revisions or additions (including how best to resolve bracketed text), and tee up those issues for discussion and potential resolution at the next meeting," he wrote in the message. A working group, part of the larger multistakeholder process, has been meeting over the last several weeks to combine the drafts from the Center for Democracy and Technology and Hogan Lovells law firm, providing a comparison of areas of agreement and disagreement. Some participants told us they have made considerable progress on creating a viable document, though some issues still need to be resolved by the larger multistakeholder group (see 1512180026). In his message, Verdi also attached another draft document describing six governing principles to guide the larger best practices document. Both documents are on NTIA website. An agency spokeswoman said NTIA is a "neutral convener" in the process, which is driven by the multistakeholder group participants.