UAV drone summit conversations are coming to Monterey, California, as US aviation industry leaders, policymakers, educators, and innovators gather March 31 through April 2 for the LIFT Summit. Hosted by Monterey Bay DART, the annual event is positioned as California’s premier forum for collaboration across the low altitude economy, with a focus on advanced air mobility and uncrewed aerial systems.
The summit is set at the Monterey Conference Center, with an opening reception at the Monterey Jet Center and added programming that reaches beyond a typical conference format. Plans include bus tours and live flight demonstrations at Airspace Integration UAS Test Range, La Selva Beach, and Marina Municipal Airport, giving attendees a closer look at how new aircraft concepts and airspace integration efforts are being tested in real environments.
Across three days, the event is designed to connect the organizations shaping what comes next for aerial innovation, from technology developers and airport leaders to government representatives, defense partners, educational institutions, and economic development groups. The agenda also emphasizes the practical work needed to move from pilots and demos to scalable operations, including topics like workforce readiness, infrastructure, policy frameworks, airspace integration, and economic growth tied to the low altitude economy.
UAV Drone Summit Agenda Focuses on Workforce, Policy, and Airspace Integration
The LIFT Summit schedule is built around a mix of hands on activity and structured discussion. An Expo Day on March 31 runs from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM and is described as a full day immersive experience featuring airfield tours and live flight demonstrations from leading advanced air mobility and UAS companies. Conference Days follow on April 1 and April 2, running from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with keynote presentations, expert panels, and workshops that focus on readiness and implementation challenges.
Networking is also a core part of the design, including a Networking Reception on April 1 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM that is intended to connect industry leaders, government officials, educators, and innovators. The overall structure reflects a practical theme in the event messaging, aiming to move beyond broad vision statements into more detailed collaboration across sectors.
“The summit emphasizes implementation,” “When industry, education, and government align around concrete next steps, we move beyond discussion and drive measurable progress for advanced air mobility in California and the nation.” Josh Metz, DART Executive Director
The summit also highlights a wide mix of participants and speakers, including figures connected to aviation research, state level mobility initiatives, and airspace operations. The presenter roster listed in the announcement includes NASA leadership and research program representation, California transportation and land use leadership, and academic research voices focused on transportation sustainability. Industry participation includes aviation executives from Joby Aviation, Wisk, BETA, Elroy Air, Ampaire, ANRA, Future Flight Global, ResilienX, Skyway, Woolpert, SFO, SJC, and more.
UAV Drone Summit Puts Monterey at the Center of the Low Altitude Economy
Beyond the schedule, the location is part of the story. The announcement frames the LIFT Summit as a signal of Monterey Bay’s growing role as a hub for next generation aviation, pointing to innovation, testing, and partnership activity tied to the region. The inclusion of live flight demonstrations and visits to a UAS test range reinforces that theme, since those environments are often where operational and regulatory questions become real, such as how aircraft perform near coastal weather patterns, how stakeholders coordinate around safety practices, and how planning decisions are made for future infrastructure.
For drone and UAS stakeholders, an event like this tends to be less about a single product reveal and more about aligning the pieces that make adoption possible. Workforce readiness matters because operators, maintainers, and support teams have to scale alongside technology. Infrastructure matters because airports, vertiports, charging, maintenance, and data systems are not optional once operations expand. Policy frameworks matter because low altitude operations require coordination across local, state, and federal layers, especially when new missions overlap with existing aviation activity.
The LIFT Summit is positioned as a place where those topics are discussed with direct participation from agencies, researchers, industry, and educators, which is important because the low altitude economy depends on coordination across groups that do not always move at the same speed. DART describes its own mission around advancing the low altitude economy through workforce development, infrastructure activation, and cross sector ecosystem building, tying drones, advanced air mobility, and robotics into a single regional effort.
As planning continues for March 31 through April 2, the summit’s mix of demos, panels, and workshops is designed to make the next steps feel tangible, not theoretical. For anyone tracking how drones and uncrewed systems fit into broader advanced air mobility efforts, a conference built around airspace integration and infrastructure is where many of the practical decisions and partnerships often start to take shape, including what gets tested, what gets funded, and what gets prioritized for statewide and national progress.
With sessions structured around both near term operational needs and longer term ecosystem growth, the LIFT Summit is being presented as a working forum for the people building the next phase of uncrewed and advanced aviation in California.
