The Aerospace Technology District (Distretto Tecnologico Aerospaziale, https://www.dtascarl.org) has announced the fifth edition of Drones Beyond initiative, the key event for the world of innovative aerial services, that brings together the leading Italian and European stakeholders in the sector, whose actions and innovations are shaping the future of the UAS/IAS world. The event will be held in Bari on 12-14 November 2025

Drones Beyond 2025, organized by the DTA in collaboration with the Municipality of Bari and under the patronage of the Department of Economic Development of the Apulia Region, has chosen this year's theme: Towards the Adoption of Innovative Aerial Services.

The three-day event will feature panels and keynote speeches with leaders from the drone industry discussing achievements and prospects. Representatives from public institutions, the research community, industry, and professionals will also share experiences and future initiatives aimed at bringing these services to full maturity.

In addition, live demonstrations will showcase real applications of UAS in metropolitan and smart city contexts, providing a concrete vision of how these services are becoming a reality in Italy and Europe.

Drones Beyond 2025 will participate in shaping the vision of innovative aerial services discussing some of the current most advanced experiences from the point of view of the end users as well as of the products’ producers and services’ providers. Through demo sessions, technology and regulation gaps will be highlighted. Lastly some hints on how to proceeds and the role of flight test sites will be in the focus.

Drones Beyond will also attract high school and university students for a series of dedicated activities designed to develop future skills, accelerate innovation, and bridge existing gaps.

More information is available on the website www.dtascarl.org/en/drones-beyond-20252/, where previous editions of the event can also be explored.

Distretto Tecnologico Aerospaziale - DTA 

The Aerospace Technology District (Distretto Tecnologico Aerospaziale, https://www.dtascarl.org) is a non-profit consortium company, operating in Apulia since 2009. Its members include research institutions and universities (University of Salento, University of Bari, and Polytechnic University of Bari), as well as large, medium, and small Italian aerospace companies. The DTA was founded and has been led since its inception by Dr. Giuseppe Acierno, who serves as president and general director.

Since its foundation, the mission of the DTA has been to increase the competitiveness of members and of the Apulian/Italian aerospace system by pushing innovative capacity, through Research and innovation initiatives, creating new research infrastructure and flight test as engines of economic development and aggregating the stakeholder community.

For this purpose, DTA has launched the Grottaglie Airport Test Bed research and flight test infrastructure to support the innovation capacity in the UAS/IAS field.

Over the years, the DTA has engaged in numerous national and European research and innovation projects in collaboration with major aerospace companies, through which research and technology transfer activities have been developed, leading to the experimentation and prototyping of drone-based services in healthcare, precision agriculture, and civil protection (such as monitoring marine discharges or detecting illegal landfills through the use of drones)..