Commercial uses for drones are too numerous to list. They include precision agriculture, natural resource management, critical infrastructure protection, oil and gas production, the film industry, law enforcement and even package delivery. It seems more uses for drones are discovered daily.

According to a study by the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), the economic impact of the integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), or drones, into the National Airspace Systems (NAS) will total more than $13.6 billion in the first three years of integration and will grow sustainably for the foreseeable future, cumulating to more than $82.1 billion between 2015 and 2025.

For Hawaii alone, the commercial UAS market is estimated at $194 million and nearly 250 new jobs over the next 10 years.

Unfortunately, with just a very few exceptions, the commercial use of drones is banned by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) until airspace integration is accomplished or new rules promulgated. The same AUVSI study projects that for every year that airspace integration is delayed, the United States loses more than $10 billion in potential economic impact. This equates to a loss of $27.6 million per day that drones are not integrated into the NAS.

More than two years ago, Congress passed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act and the Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. This legislation directs the FAA to establish six test sites to integrate drones with the NAS by September 2015. The six test sites, all of which are public entities — such as states, state agencies or state universities — were selected in December 2013 from a field of more than 30 contenders.

Hawaii was teamed with one of the winners, the Pan Pacific UAS Test Range Complex, or PPUTRC, led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Test flights have been conducted by the PPUTRC in Alaska and Oregon (the PPUTRC’s other teammate). Unfortunately, Hawaii has yet to establish a range to fly drones, although it is authorized to do so as a PPUTRC partner.

The test sites exist to evaluate and certify new technologies, procedures and processes that will allow drones and manned aircraft to safely coexist in our skies. They draw customers from government agencies and private industry.

It is anticipated the test sites will become self-sustaining as they collect fees for delivering services. For our state of Hawaii, it would bring jobs and economic activity with little or no impact to our environment or way of life, as the vast majority of these test flights would involve very small vehicles operating over the water or sparsely populated areas.

In order to establish the organization and infrastructure required to bring this activity to Hawaii, the state will need to allocate resources. This may be done by realigning existing resources (jobs, public infrastructure, funding), appropriating new funds, or a combination of both. For a modest investment, the state of Hawaii can position to be a leader in this new technology and claim our share of the economic benefit.

Larry Osborn is chief strategy officer of DreamHammer, Inc., a drone software developer, and is on the Hawaii Aerospace Advisory Committee.