Regional Competence Centre for Drones
About this good practice
The Emilia-Romagna Region has established a Regional
Compentence Centre for Drones to advance its aerospace economy
and drone technology capabilities.
This initiative is a collaborative effort between the regional government
and ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy, and
Sustainable Economic Development).
In 2019 ENEA Research Centre launched the Exadrone Project. This
project, co-financed by Emilia-Romagna Region, focuses on
developing high-performance drones for critical civil missions, such as
environmental monitoring and infrastructure inspections.
As part of the Exadrone Project, a certified Flight Academy was
established in 2022 to provide theoretical and practical training for
remote pilots, contributing to workforce development in the drone sector.
In February 2025, building on Exadrone results, Emilia-Romagna
Region and ENEA announced the creation of a comprehensive
Competence Centre for drones, involving over 110 collaborators from
Regional Agencies, specialising in areas from administrative
processes to advanced flight techniques.
The Centre works on pilot training and flight missions, legal and
insurance responsibility, and personnel management (including
certifications and ratings). In this way, it aims at encouraging new
market opportunities for SMEs and investors in the aerospace sector,
in order to position Emilia-Romagna as a leader in drone technology
and applications, fostering economic growth and innovation in the
aerospace sector.
Resources needed
581,000€ of regional funding allocated to Exadrone project Human resources to run the Centre provided by the various regional agencies
Evidence of success
The Centre builds on fruitful collaboration within the Exadrone project.
Partnerships with ENEA and the involvement of 110 collaborators are demonstrate capacity of the Centre to engage with key stakeholders.
Collaboration with international agencies like EASA and involvement in EU programs adds credibility and is proof of a strong positioning in the global aerospace sector.
The Centre also demonstrates the capacity of the Region to create highly skilled professionals for aerospace.
Potential for learning or transfer
The collaboration with universities and research institutions like ENEA, and the other regional agencies, ensures that there is a constant flow of knowledge and expertise between the academic world and industry practitioners. This provides a platform for research-driven innovations to be transferred directly into practical applications, such as drone technologies for civil and environmental missions.
Cross-disciplinary knowledge from fields like AI, robotics, engineering, and data science can be transferred across different sectors, helping industries adopt drone technologies in areas such as agriculture, logistics, and urban management.
Further information
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