Drones are here to stay
They are becoming a useful tool for many professionals, expanding from the military-only domain to other applications such as commercial, scientific, recreational and agricultural.
Drones (or RPAS, UAS/UAV, read this if you are picky with the terms) are delivering packages, assisting scientific sampling in volcanoes, sniff out methane leaks, perform rescue operations and contribute to any other creative application as e.g. smuggle drugs. Last month the TIME magazine issued a Special Report on The Drone Age, having its iconic cover/logo being recreated by 950 drones. Have a look below on the short video.
While the forecasts vary dramatically, the drone market is growing steadily each year (from 15% to 55% !, depending on which report you read or in which geographic area you are referring to). As the hype of the previous years settle, the market becomes more mature and customer-focused. VC-funded drone companies are mainly based in North America and China. Initially a lot of this investment was targeting hardware components; it seems that recently there is a growing shift towards software development as well (check out for e.g. DroneDeploy, AirWare or OneSky).
The EU drone policy
The European Union is also targeting drone market stimulation and growth, starting from the proper base: rules. The Commission’s 2014 Communication, Opening the Aviation Market to the Civil Use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems in a Safe and Sustainable Manner, laid down its strategy for gradually establishing an EU aviation market in drones. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published a series of reports and proposals on the subject. Last month, the Council adopted updated aviation safety rules, which include civil drones of all sizes. According to the 384-pages act, drone operators shall be registered if their aircraft, in the case of impact, can transfer, to a human, kinetic energy above 80 Joules (i.e. less than an average punch) or in case the operation of their aircraft presents risks to privacy, protection of personal data, security or the environment.
In addition, the mandate of EASA is widened to include drones and urban air mobility under the new regulation. In this line, the European Commission is organizing a Workshop on ‘Copernicus and aerial platforms’ to explore how unmanned aerial platforms could potentially complement Earth Observation capabilities in its Copernicus Programme. Certain applications and services of Copernicus can be significantly improved, if complemented by drone imagery. The aforementioned EU-led initiatives aim to reduce the existing fragmentation, providing a solid regulatory base for the development of new products and the swift introduction of drone technologies.
Despite their gradual entry into our life, drones are yet to become mainstream, I believe. This is not something that comes overnight and no matter how easy is to get your DJI Spark up and running, the “mainstraiming” market process passes through the real business cases and complete end-to-end solutions.
