Drones are set for mass proliferation, despite commonly voiced concerns about privacy and use, according to a leading British aviation safety expert.

Speaking at a panel discussion during SkyTech, a UAV conference held today in London, Gerry Corbett, UAS programme lead for the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s Safety and Airspace Regulation Group, said that people would have to get used to the presence of drones in urban areas.

“Society has to accept that we’re going to see a lot more of these flying around towns and cities,” he said.

“We’ll have to get used to them, much like we did with mobile phones.”

However, in order for this to happen, regulation will need to improve in order to ensure that the drones are safe.

At present, drone regulation varies wildly depending on the city or country, and where there is regulation, enforcement is proving to be a problem.

One of the proposed solutions is mandatory registration for all drone owners across Europe, so that enforcement agencies know who is flying a given drone.

“I think we would like to live without having to register every drone, but I can envision that if you have a drone flying in a certain area, certain agencies will want to know who is flying it,” explained barrister and Flightpath Consulting director Joseph Dalby.

“You need to connect a drone to an individual. I think it’s something that is unavoidable to some extent.”

However, Corbett questioned the efficacy of a register to prevent drone-assisted crime.

“You could argue that by the time you’re seeing it and it’s airborne, security and counter terrorism-wise it’s already too late,” he said.

Other options include heavy prosecution of those who break the rules to discourage regulation flouting.

“Enforcement will come through prosecutions with high sanctions,” said Dalby.

While the industry is clearly some way from finding an appropriate solution to regulation, there is a general sense that this a problem that will be solved, preferably while ensuring fair treatment of both professional and amateur fliers across different countries.

“It’s the private or casual use of drones that’s going to be a bigger problem,” added Corbett.