With drones becoming increasingly popular around the world, corporations are honing in on this new technical advancement to see how exactly these nifty unmanned aerial vehicles can help them maximise profit and even help the environment. Scores of individuals are also using drones for fun, and some are even making their own equivalents by hand, though we’re not exactly sure how to build a quadcopter – the drone alternative – or how easy it is. So, one question remains: how are drone tech applications in business going?
Dubai’s roads are off to a flying start
Though Dubai’s Road and Transportation Agency isn’t exactly a company, what they’ve devised is a brilliant business initiative. But what else would you expect from Dubai?
The Arab city’s government has announced they are to launch people-carrying drones which will begin “regular operations” this summer. Once the passenger enters the drone, they use the screen in front of them to select a destination, and the drone flies off. Currently, the technology can only hold one passenger weighing up to 100kg (15.5 stone).
Before you know it, people-carrying drones will become part-and-parcel of tourism industries. We predict they’ll reach the Alps, Tokyo and New York City within the next couple of decades.
Amazon’s air delivery
Amazon UK announced the Amazon Prime Air service not too long ago. They said they were to trial delivery drones with two individual UK-based shoppers in Cambridge, hoping to boost the number into the hundreds if the trial proved successful.
It took 13 minutes from the click of the order to the delivery of the package at the shopper’s door, which is fantastic going, all things considered. Amazon hopes to expand the trial all around the UK, especially as the Civil Aviation Authority granted it the right to test delivery drones for future reference.
We’re certainly looking forward to seeing how this drone tech application in the international business world works out in the long run.
BT branches out
Usually when drones are sent abroad, it’s for warfare surveillance and bombing. However, BT has been trialling drones abroad for a very different reason.
BT has been using drones to provide temporary and emergency Internet access all over the world. They’ve been to battlefields, disaster zones and to difficult-to-reach corners of the globe in an effort to better connect and help those in most need, especially as the drones can survey damage to an area before routing Internet connection within it.
Currently, the issues with this new technology are battery life, weight and wind, which often proves a difficult character for drones to contend with. However, the future and further trials and scientific research will most likely solve these issues with the drone, and we can expect to see BT having a great future in this emergency Internet market.
Air mail is literally becoming air mail
The Royal Mail postal service announced in 2015 that it was considering using drones for air mail as well as to replace delivery trucks. This would mean having your air mail delivered quite literally in the air, and trucks being made redundant. It was noted that the new trial and (hopefully) delivery service would be particularly effective in rural areas and in isolated communities. Finally, then, there is hope for those living in the almost-wilderness of secluded northern villages. Hurrah!
Agriculture loves drones too
It’s not often that farmers benefit from anything in terms of new technology and policy. However, drones are most likely the future in the agriculture industry.
Drones can actually save farmers money seeing as using them can help spot failing crops early, take an inventory of their crops and to study the farmland in a unique – and helpful – way. Those tediously time-consuming tasks for farmers can be cut out quickly with drones. It is even possible to spray crops with fertilizer, proving to be yet another well-earned bonus for farmers.
It is clear, then, that drones are the future of business. We’ll see the increasing use of these super-quick and simply fascinating pieces of technology over the years and if one thing is for sure, we’re excited to see this new era in consumerism and, of course, in business too.
Authored by: Lauren E. White