CNN recently entered into a Cooperative Research and Development agreement with the FAA in an effort to help integrate the use of UAVs into newsgathering and reporting operations, according to the CNN newsroom blog.

CNN has an existing research partnership with Georgia Tech Research Institute, and will integrate that effort into this new agreement. Coordination between the three groups has already begun, and the FAA plans to use this research find a way to safely integrate UAVs for newsgathering operations.

“Our aim is to get beyond hobby-grade equipment and to establish what options are available and workable to produce high quality video journalism using various types of UAVs and camera setups,” said CNN Senior Vice President David Vigilante, according to the blog. “Our hope is that these efforts contribute to the development of a vibrant ecosystem where operators of various types and sizes can safely operate in the U.S. airspace.”