4 Key Industries that Drones will Transform
And how they will affect our daily lives
When you first hear the word drone, you might think of them as mostly a toy fad, a fun hobby gadget that has come as a result of the increase in technology use in households. While there are drones that do indeed serve the recreational uses of amateur hobbyists, the rapid development of drone-related technology has also led to the diversification of drones to be used for a multitude of professional uses.
Ranging from deliveries to agriculture, a plethora of industries will be or are currently in the process of being revolutionized by drones which are set to soon become indispensable tools. This change has been accelerated by COVID-19, which has increased the usage of drones and will be an indicator of the impact of drones in the future on our daily lives.
Below are four key industries that in my opinion will be transformed the most by the introduction and integration of drones.
- The Entertainment Industry
- Deliveries
- Crisis Response and Disaster Relief
- Agriculture and Poverty
The Entertainment Industry
When I bought my first drone (a Mavic Mini) in late 2019, I was shocked at the extensive list of benefits in comparison to its low cost.
- Small size (could easily fit in your pocket, 249g means that it doesn’t need to be registered with the Federal Aviation Authority)
- Easy-to-use controls
- Decent Camera with advanced settings and effective gimbal stabilization
- Relatively inexpensive price ($399)
Like the Model T for drones, while these benefits are of only a single drone model, they highlight the increasing availability of drones with cameras to the general public in more recent years. Photographers and filmmakers will no longer require expensive equipment to be able to shoot the previously out of reach cinematic shots, allowing amateurs to create movies, shows, and other entertainment services
Though the average person probably still won’t be able to shoot a blockbuster Hollywood movie, drones have already allowed enthusiasts to shoot inexpensive documentaries and indie films, creating new industries such as documentary streaming services spearheaded by companies like MagellanTV.
Deliveries
With the development of Prime air by Amazon for deliveries garnering quite a bit of attention in the media, this might be one of the industries where the possible usage of drones is widely expected by the majority of the public.
Futuristic scenes of fleets of Amazon drones buzzing through the sky delivering orders, however, are quite far from the current reality. Drone deliveries encounter a wide variety of legal issues (such as the current FAA guidelines and issues regarding privacy), alongside logistical nightmares coordinating the immense size of a commercial fleet of drones when considering Amazon’s already gargantuan fleet of trucks and planes.
That being said, there are quite a few benefits to drone deliveries that may make at least a partial conversion to drones economically and logistically feasible.
- Drones are far cheaper than trucks and use electric batteries rather than fossil fuels. This makes drones not only better for the environment, but also for the company’s balance sheet.
- An obvious benefit of drones is their ability to fly rather than travel on the ground. This allows drones to decrease their delivery time and also access areas that may be more rural and thus difficult to deliver with traditional land-based routes.
- With 86% of Amazon’s orders being less than or equal to 5 pounds, the weight of the package in most cases will be negligible as a possible deterrent to drone delivery.
Crisis Response and Disaster Relief
With the current COVID-19 pandemic, we have already seen the extensive usage of drones for tasks ranging from delivering masks to even replacing police officers during the lockdown in some countries. Governments have actively endorsed the usage of drones as a supplement to aid in efforts to combat the pandemic.
Just as the Second World War accelerated the development of aircraft, COVID-19 may stimulate the development of drones and drone usage to become a permanent part of the public emergency response.
While the COVID-19 crisis may be temporary, the possibility of extensive drones use in crises or in disaster relief situations has been cemented within crisis handbooks. Regardless of the disaster, drones almost always offer either a tool or perspective that is unique.
In the case of a natural disaster, that may be extinguishing fires from above forest fires or delivering emergency supplies when ground transport isn’t available like during hurricanes (think Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans).
In the past government investment into drones has focused mainly on military drones, but COVID’s demonstration on the viability of drone usage in peacetime domestic governance may increase the government’s willingness to invest in these crisis response drones. Just as the Second World War accelerated the development of aircraft, COVID-19 may stimulate the development of drones and drone usage to become a permanent part of the public emergency response.
Agriculture and Poverty
All in all, drones may increase accessibility to more productive technology and cut costs for technology already in use.
One of the industries that will arguably be the most impacted by the introduction of drones is agriculture. From industrial farms to subsistence farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, nearly all methods of agriculture have an immense opportunity to take advantage of the multitude of new or improved capabilities drones offer.
Possible roles for drones in agriculture range from 3D mapping for soil analysis to crop monitoring to even planting crops. An example of the versatility of drone usage can be seen in the recent #TeamTrees effort, which planted over 20,000 trees for the environment using drones.
Instead of relying on expensive planes or other equipment, farmers can use cheaper drones that can reach more rural areas. All in all, drones may increase accessibility to more productive technology and cut costs for technology already in use.
With increasing the accessibility of technology to improve agricultural productivity comes the opportunity to reduce poverty around the world by increasing crop yields and improving farming techniques, Poor, isolated farmers like those in the Congo will be able to exploit drone-assisted technology despite a lack of roads and critical infrastructure in the region.
Such opportunities add new innovative ways to alleviate poverty in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.
Conclusion
The industries listed above are just a few of the many possible industries that drones are poised to transform. Though the technology is still relatively new, the concept of drones as not just toys but also effective tools to help create societal and economic change has been all but confirmed.
Who knows, perhaps the impact of the commercialization of drone usage may be comparable to the impact of the development of the personal computer to future historians.
Thanks for reading! My name is Phillip, and I’m an editor for left | right, a high-school student-run Medium publication dedicated to providing a platform to promote diversity of thought through both analytical and creative pieces.
Check us out at https://medium.com/left-right!
