A public dissemination event was held within the Faculty of ICT at the University of Malta to disseminate the results of a research and innovation (R&I) project entitled SAGRO (Situation Awareness and Guidance for RPAS* Operations) to the general public.

This was a Research and Innovation (R&I) project - funded by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) led by Execuitve Chairman Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando. The project's aim was to develop technologies to enable remotely piloted aircraft systems (also referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles or 'drones') to fly safely in the presence of other manned or unmanned aircraft. SAGRO, was carried out as a collaboration between Idox Health (formerly 6pm) and the Institute of Aerospace Technologies (IAT) at the University of Malta.

James Foden, MCST Director of R&I Programmes, who spoke on behalf of the Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy & Innovation Silvio Schembri, relayed the Parliamentary Secretary's message saying "such efforts in Research and Innovation help Malta to remain at the forefront of world class aviation research and help us achieve the goal of making Malta a one-off destination for such an industry.  The SAGRO project has benefitted from a 176,000 Euro R&I fund through MCST.  We look forward to supporting more research and innovation projects that could create more wealth in our digital economy".  Further to the speech, James Foden spoke about R&I Funding Opportunities through MCST.

The event started with a short speech by David Zammit Mangion, Director of the Institute of Aerospace Technologies, who welcomed the guests on behalf of the University of Malta. Then Roger Archer from Idox Health gave a project overview and delivered its findings.

Following these introductory speeches, speakers proceeded to explain the research carried out in the project.

* RPAS known as Remotely Piloted Air Systems is a device used or intended to be used for flight in the air that has no on-board pilot. These are controllable in three axes either autonomously by on-board computers or else by remote pilots in ground stations.