Google’s “Project Wing” delivery drone initiative has said it will team up with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct tests and help to establish new safety regulations.

The tests are part of a larger public and privately-funded initiate to further the U.S. drone industry, officials said at the end of a White House workshop yesterday.

Project Wing’s operational research will be carried out at one of the FAA’s six Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) tests sites, White House officials said. The tests are designed to help Project Wing “gain full operational experience of its delivery service in a safe testing environment.” Test flights will be performed with external cargo loads and will progress towards building “beyond line of sight capabilities,” officials said. In addition, Project Wing will also test what it calls an “open-interface airspace management solution for low-altitude, small UAS operations.”

Interestingly, it’s not just Google that will benefit from the initiative. A startup called Zipline is teaming up with the government to test the viability of drone-based medical supply deliveries to remote areas. The tests will see drones carry blood, medicines and other medical equipment to remote areas of Maryland, Nevada and Washington. Zipline has previous experience of delivering life-saving vaccines and blood for transfusions via drones in Rwanda, Africa.

Besides endorsing drone test flights, White House officials also announced it would provide $35 million worth of funding to the National Science Foundation (NSF) over the next five years. The NSF will use the funds to research the design and development of UAS applications for things like monitoring physical infrastructure and agriculture, studying storms and deploying smart disaster response.

Lastly, the FAA announced that a proposed rule governing “Operations of Small Unmanned Aircraft Over People” will be submitted for public comment later this year. The FAA envisages that this rule will become part of the regulatory framework for flying drones near crowds, which could impact aerial photography of events such as concerts, sporting matches and more.

The developments come barely a week after another drone pioneer, Amazon.com Inc., decided to move its drone delivery tests to the U.K., apparently due to frustration at the slow pace of regulatory change in the U.S.

Image credit: Zipline