At the annual IGC meeting in Rome on March 1 2008, the Italian proposal was approved by IGC and – as recommended by Flarm – referred the matter to the provisional FAI Commission on Airspace and Navigation Systems (CANS) (see the official meeting minutes and decisions). At the meeting, the consulted IGC experts have recommended to look forward to integrate with ATC systems and existing ADS-B technology operating in protected aviation frequencies rather than get involved into a commercial debate. They stated that getting involved in such a debate – different to flight recorders – is years too late also because the market is established. It was understood that if at all, a proper governing process would need to be established before another new standard for air-to-air radio communication could ever be presented.
On its first March 19 meeting, the tight agenda for CANS did not allow covering the above topic; the next meeting is scheduled for end of 2008. FLARM continues to support efforts to define a safe and efficient governing framework for the spread of its technology.