On September 18, 19 and 20, Disaster Competence Network Austria will host a three-day event focused on drones and robotics in Wels, Austria which also will feature two sessions related to COLLARIS2. On the 18th, Jasmina Schmidt (DCNA) will present first results of her study on public perception and its influence on the deployment of drones.
The main points from this talk will be:
💡 Drones can be life-saving tools but even the best technology can’t succeed without public trust. Scepticism remains – from privacy concerns to ethical and legal questions – and these attitudes influence how drones are used by emergency services, depending on the context they operate in.
💡 That’s why open communication, clear regulations, and visible legitimacy (for example, clearly marked official drones) are essential steps to make “drones for good” a reality.
In a second session, a workshop conducted by Jasmina Schmidt, Robert Grafe from DRZ – Deutsches Rettungsrobotik-Zentrum e.V. & Robbert Heinecke from Futurised B.V.), the COLLARIS2 and CREXDATA_EU projects will discuss UAV deployments in weather-induced emergencies.
The participants will explore:
✅ Deployment scenarios – where drones have proven most valuable and new potential use cases
✅ Operations & coordination – how to manage airspace, cooperate across agencies, and integrate UAVs with manned aircraft
✅ Technology & data – the sensor types that really deliver value, and the challenge of turning raw data into actionable insights
The session will outline what has worked well, where technology or coordination fell short, and what regulatory updates are needed to scale UAV use safely and effectively.
You can check the link for registrations and all the programme: https://dcna.at/index.php/en/newsreader/symposium-on-disaster-research-2025-event-programme-and-registration.html