Vanguard Magazine

42 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019 www.vanguardcanada.com GAme CHanGER See the full interview online Q How did you start out in this industry, and how has it brought you to where you are today? I established my career in the defence and security industry as a former Emer- gency Manager in Ontario and was trained as an Incident Commander by the Toronto Police Service, Public Or- der Unit. In this industry, I recognized the tremendous opportunity to use in- novative technologies in drones, AI, and cybersecurity to improve the ways in which we help people and save lives. Q What was your most challenging moment? My most challenging moment was in my public safety career in emergency man- agement. I recognized the constraints that hinder the public safety industry from innovation and growth. I recog- nized the opportunity for the Canadian Public Safety industry to introduce more privately organized players to compete in a publicly organized space, contribute innovative technologies and methods for helping save lives, and helping to foster economic growth for Canada. Q What is the one thing that has you most fired up today? Drones and Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) make up an emerging industry that is very exciting for Canadi- ans and the world. Once we solve some of the safety challenges such as Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) and the testing of our anti-drone defence system, including the democratization of our airspace with global governments, such as Transport Canada and NAV Canada, the democratization of our airspace, and the day-to-day threats by terrorism, we can then fully reap the benefits of utiliz- ing remotely piloted aircraft systems to replace the traditional methods of pi- loted aircraft. Q What is a habit that contributes to your success? Remaining focused on our missions that result in helping people and saving lives. Q What people or organizations do you believe best embody the innova- tion mindset? The Canadian government has devel- oped the Smart City Challenge which is run every year, and the winner can receive up to $50 million for the devel- opment of Smart City Applications that will benefit all humankind. Creating a smarter world through in- novation and technology is obtainable. I believe that we will create the world's first RPAS that will save lives, protect human- ity, and provide real-time data to the first responder in times of need in a single mis- sion using artificial intelligence. In Aerospace and Defence, my team and I challenge ourselves every day to be creative and unique, to think outside the box, and to innovate the services that we offer. Terranova Aerospace started off as the dream of a few dedicated people. It has grown into the dream of many people, working together to reach a series of goals. We all believe that through our hard work together, we will one day touch the dreamed-of skies and become one of Canada's largest Aerospace and Defence tech companies. My team and I are almost there, and together we are the Game Changer of Aerospace and De- fence! Q What are some of the biggest im- pediments to innovation in your industry sector? Drone safety remains a largely unsolved problem. However, Terranova Aerospace remains committed to contributing to the global effort to solve drone safety by developing methods for drone-to-drone communication, pilot education, drone regulation and advanced learning through a virtual reality 3D platform. Q How has innovation become ingrained in your organization's culture and how is it being optimized? Being in the relatively young drone indus- try – as it is continually being challenged and defined – means that Terranova Aero- space must take the leading role. Terrano- va Aerospace must embrace and embody innovation and work with other organi- zations to create something much larger. There is no other option. Q What technologies, business models, and trends will drive the biggest changes in your industry over the next two years? The integration of other technological in- novations with drones will see artificial in- telligence, virtual reality, augmented real- ity, and 5G networks become some of the drivers of change in the drone industry over the next two years. Drone manufac- turers will also evolve their business mod- els away from producing and selling units (the automotive model), to become more service-driven in operations. What is your parting piece of advice? Set a vision, stay focused on it, and trust in your abilities and your team's abilities to achieve it. James Castle CEO, PrEsidEnt & FOundEr Terranova aerospace

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