We are pleased to announce that Dr. Pablo Rodríguez-Gonzálvez has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Section “Innovative Urban Mobility” in Drones (ISSN: 2504-446X).

Dr. Pablo Rodríguez Gonzálvez is a surveyor (2004), a geodesist and a cartographer (2006), who obtained his Ph.D. in 2011 and worked at the University of Salamanca, Spain, for 8 years, joined the University of León, Spain, in 2017, and continues to be an Associate Professor in the Geomatics field. His research career is supported not only by the publication of articles in scientific journals, communications in international conferences, book chapters, and edition of books, but also by university‒business knowledge transfer, in the form of projects, patents, and software development related to the application of Geomatics in different disciplines. Furthermore, his participation in multiple R&D projects at international levels, all of them related to Geomatics, are noteworthy. As a result, his research has been awarded at the national level by different institutions. His primary research field is the application of Geomatics techniques, mainly photogrammetry and laser scanner, 3D modeling, and radiometric analyses. These lines of research led him to collaborate in multiple fields, including industrial engineering, cultural heritage, and forest management. He has been a member of the National Management Committee of COST Action CA16219 (“Harmonization of UAS techniques for agricultural and natural ecosystems monitoring”), from 2017 to 2022, and an Editorial Board Member of Drones since 2017.

The following is a short Q&A with Dr. Pablo Rodríguez-Gonzálvez, who shared his vision for the Section with us as well as his views on the research area:

I have been involved in the journal Drones since its foundation, and during this journey, I found it a fulfilling experience, not only in the interaction with colleagues during the peer-review process but also with the publisher during the editorial process.

In my new role as a Section Editor-in-Chief, I intend to help the journal to increase the visibility of new trends related to drones, emphasizing autonomous vehicles and their relationship with urban mobility and smart cities. In addition, I will also be involved in the continuous improvement of the journal’s quality.

With this new Section, I expect to help the journal to continue its growth in terms of the number of articles and their quality, while addressing innovative topics.

Drones are a key element in the development of the new paradigm of urban mobility, as well as the transportation of passengers and goods. However, we are at a very early stage where we must overcome several challenges before the complete adoption of this new paradigm. In this line, researchers from universities, administrations, and companies are being very active, so new findings and advances are expected in the following years on this topic.

Open Access improves the visibility, accessibility, and impact of research work on other colleagues, the university community, and society in general. Moreover, it favors the authors’ recognition and improves the positioning of their work. Therefore, I consider it to be the future of science.

All researchers involved in drone, aerial or terrestrial research with cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research and/or innovative trends are welcome.

We warmly welcome Dr. Pablo Rodríguez-Gonzálvez as the Section Editor-in-Chief of “Innovative Urban Mobility”, and we look forward to achieving many milestones under his leadership.