Deep Dive Episode 153 – Reboot Conversations: The Future of Drone Policy
Regulatory Transparency Project's Fourth Branch Podcast
Regulatory Transparency Project's Fourth Branch Podcast
There are nearly 500,000 commercial drones registered in the United States, far exceeding recent FAA projections. Fields like photography, agriculture, and public safety have adopted drone services and there are a few programs for long-distance services—like utility line inspection, surveying, and home delivery—popping up around the country.
Despite the rapid maturation of the technology, mass-market services are still years away in the United States in part because of difficult legal and policy questions raised in a recent GAO report to Congress: Should state or federal aviation officials regulate low-altitude drone services and operations? How do regulators encourage a healthy drone services industry while protecting residents’ property rights and privacy? Who will build and operate unmanned traffic management systems? This expert panel discussed these topics and more in a Lincoln Network Reboot Conversation co-sponsored by the Regulatory Transparency Project.
Featuring:
Visit our website – www.RegProject.org – to learn more, view all of our content, and connect with us on social media.
Former Chief Counsel, Federal Aviation Administration
Reggie Govan is former Chief Counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA). The Office of the Chief Counsel provides legal advice in support of the FAA Administrator and all aspects of agency operations at headquarters, regions, and centers and works closely with the Department of Transportation’s Office of General Counsel on issues of national significance to the aviation industry.
Mr. Govan previously served as a corporate counsel, litigator, and legislative counsel. Prior to joining the FAA, he served as Managing Associate General Counsel of Freddie Mac. He also served as Counsel to Chairmen Augustus H. Hawkins and William D. Ford of the United States (U.S.) House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor, and as Counsel to the then-Chairman (now Vice President) Joseph R. Biden of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. His litigation experience includes service as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and as plaintiffs’ counsel in federal civil rights litigation, including school desegregation and voting rights cases.
After acquiring a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Philosophy from Carnegie-Mellon University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, he clerked for the Honorable Nathaniel Jones of U.S. Court of Appeals for Sixth Circuit.
Mr. Govan is the author of several professional journal and law review articles. He lives in the District of Columbia.
Innovation, Cyber, and National Security Analyst, Lincoln Network
Alexiaa Jordan is a South-Side Chicagoan and new D.C transplant from Bologna, Italy. She recently attained her master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). There she focused on international economics, Strategic Studies, and Portuguese. During her time at Johns Hopkins, she started working with the international strategic consulting firm RiceHadleyGatesManuel, LLC. Before Hopkins, she’s served as a Chief of Staff within the Illinois House of Representatives and as the youngest female campaign manager in Chicago’s history; prior to that, she served with City Year Chicago to teach inner city students. As an undergraduate, she majored in molecular and cellular biology at the University of Illinois; successfully published several pieces of health policy research. With her unique intersection of STEM, economics, national security, and government affairs, she looks forward to bridging public-private relationships to improve the national security of the United States. Aside from work, she enjoys spending time with her younger sister, working with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, serving on various boards to increase the participation of women and people of color into national security spaces.
Legal Fellow, Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
Brent Skorup is a legal fellow in the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies.
Before joining Cato, he was a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at the George Mason University. His research areas include free speech, technology law, Fourth Amendment protections, regulation, and property law. Skorup has published pieces in economics and law journals and in popular media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg Law, Reuters, and Wired. He’s appeared as a TV and radio interview guest for news outlets like C‑SPAN, NPR, CBS News, ABC News, and CNBC Asia.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, a dissenting opinion at the Illinois Supreme Court, and the ALI's Restatement of the Law of Property have cited his legal research and he has testified as a technology and legal expert in legislative hearings in several states. Skorup has been appointed to several federal and state advisory bodies and he is currently a member of the Texas Advanced Air Mobility Advisory Committee.
Skorup has a BA in economics from Wheaton College and a law degree from the George Mason University School of Law, where he was articles editor for the Civil Rights Law Journal. He was a legal clerk at the FCC’s wireless bureau and Office of General Counsel and at the Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.