DIODE (D-Flight Internet of Drones Environment) aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of U-Space services (U1, U2, U3) in ensuring an adequate level of safety for simultaneous operations with multiple drones in the same area.

These objectives will be achieved through safety and regulatory compliance assessments, test and live demonstrations conducted in different scenarios (including urban environment, airport environment and BVLOS flights). The demonstrations will take place in Italy where the D-Flight platform, developed by ENAV (the Italian ANSP) and active since 2016, is able to provide by the end of 2018 the entire range of U1 services (e.g. registration , identification and static geofencing). D-Flight is expected to be able to cover all U-Space services (up to level U3) by 2022.

The D-Flight platform seems to represent a solid and scalable solution for the implementation of U-Space services, guaranteeing:

• An adequate level of safety for the RPAS functionality, supporting their integration into traditional manned traffic 
• the growth of the drone market
• Respect for basic principles such as privacy and safety

DIODE represents the opportunity to test this platform and define the U-space regulatory framework, thus accelerating the development and implementation of the U-Space infrastructure in Italy.