UVS International is a non-profit association registered with the Chamber of Commerce in The Hague, The Netherlands and operates out of offices in Paris, France. It was founded in June 1995.

UVS International is recognized as an impartial representative of the global remotely piloted systems (RPS) community and represents the interests of its Members on a world-wide basis.

There are 3 Member categories:

Corporate Entities: Manufacturers of RPS, related sub-systems and critical components and associated equipment; Operators supplying aerial work services (commercial & non-commercial & corporate) with RPS; Companies & organisations supplying services for RPS & RPS operators; research organisations.
Non-Corporate Entities: State organisations, academic institutions, partner organisations);
Natural Persons: Private persons, journalists & honorary Members (the latter on invitation only).

In this context, RPS should be understood as re-useable and expendable, civil & military, remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), space vehicle systems, unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) systems, unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) systems, unmanned surface vehicle (USV) systems, the latter two jointly designated unmanned maritime systems (UMS), as well as non-reusable remotely piloted air, ground & naval target systems.

UVS International, a member of the ICAO UAS Study Group, has adopted the terminology recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Consequently, it now uses the term Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), instead of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), and Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), instead of unmanned aircraft.

UVS International has corporate, non-corporate and natural person Members in 40 countries on 5 continents: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Rep., Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Moldova Rep., Russian Fed., Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine, USA.

UVS International aims to federate the international RPS manufacturers & operators community with the intent of promoting international cooperation & coordination in all matters that are of interest & importance to the international RPAS operators community [e.g. critical issues such as: rules & regulations (incl. design, production, maintenance, pilot, operator approvals), responsibility, liability, insurance, privacy, data protection], and give this community a voice on the global stage.

UVS International maintains excellent relations with many national aviation authorities, as well as international (ICAO) & regional (Europe: EASA, EUROCONTROL, JARUS, SESAR Joint Undertaking; Latin America: SRVSOP) aviation regulatory authorities.

The following links give you access to membership related documents:

The following links give you access to a number of documents that will give you additional information on UVS International:

Board of Directors 2016

Information for members only:

Points of interest for the RPAS community:

The civil RPAS market [commercial; non-commercial (corporate, research, training); governmental non-military] is growing throughout the world.
The economic viability of a growing number of civil RPAS applications is being evaluated by current & potential RPAS operators in all market categories.
Initial civil RPAS regulations are now in place in: Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Rep., France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, UK.
Initial civil RPAS regulations are in preparation in: Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Russian Fed., South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, USA.
None of the currently applicable civil regulations are harmonised.
Civil RPAS operations are being facilitated by a growing number of national or regional aviation authorities by granting (experimental) flight authorisations.
There are currently more than 1000 approved or authorised commercial RPAS operators in Europe.
RPAS operators will be the drivers of the steadily growing civil RPAS market (geo-informatics, remote sensing, photogrammetry, aerial surveying, aerial mapping, aerial monitoring, aerial inspection, agricultural applications, news broadcasting, cinema, science & research).
Critical operator-related matters that have to be addressed include: responsibility, liability, insurance, privacy, data protection, organisational approval, pilot training & qualification, and public acceptance.
Acceptable & easily accessible insurance coverage will be of critical importance.

Note:

RPAS Operator: A company or organisation conducting or planning to conduct aerial operations with RPAS.
Approved RPAS Operator: An RPAS operator approved by the national or regional aviation authority in a country with RPAS regulation in place.
Authorised RPAS Operator: An RPAS operator in a country without RPAS regulation in place that has received flight permission from the national or regional aviation authority on a case-to-case (experimental) basis.

Membership

UVS International is a non-profit association registered with the Chamber of Commerce in The Hague, The Netherlands and operates out of offices in Paris, France. It was founded in June 1995.