On January 3, 2020, the City of Covington and Aeronyde of Virginia, Inc. announced an exciting new public-private partnership on a “Smart Cities” initiative involving the use of drones to assist the City with critical data collection for a number of projects. Firm attorney Mark Popovich who also serves as the Covington City Attorney, worked with city leaders and economic development staff on the contract with Aeronyde.  Newly located to the area, Aeronyde of Virginia is an FAA-licensed autonomous aerial systems provider that developed a proprietary drone system which enables rapid and accurate data collection. One way Covington plans to use the drone system is for the management of infrastructure along Route 220 within City limits. The City anticipates that several major agencies will directly benefit from this initiative, including the Department of Public Works, Covington Police Department, and Development Services.

Last fall, Aeronyde selected the City of Covington as the location of its new drone operations  command and control center. You can read our article here.

You can read the City’s press release announcing the Smart Cities Initiative here.