SAM IS ....
Building Trust in Drones

Drone technology presents an unprecedented opportunity for businesses and society. From reducing traffic on our roads, to speeding up the delivery of aid and urgent medical supplies, there is much drones can do. They are already proving an excellent tool for businesses, who are using drones to better manage and maintain their assets and reduce the amount of working at height. They are also capable of going into hostile or inaccessible environments for the purposes of search and rescue or research, relaying images and data and bringing new capabilities to sectors such as the emergency services, academia and the scientific community.

 

‘Amazing but scary’

But to deliver on the promise of drones, it is important the public is on-side and businesses see and understand the potential. To achieve these goals there are some hurdles to overcome.

PwC research into public and business attitudes towards drones has revealed less than a third (31%) of the UK public currently feel positive towards drone technology.

Our research also found many people are unsure and waiting to be convinced. Others admit they simply don’t know enough about the technology. One member of the public described drones as “amazing but scary”. A business respondent said they are “not sure what [drones] are capable of doing”.

Public and business trust is there to be won. But to do so requires three factors to be addressed: Education, Accountability and Reward and Benefit. It is human nature that we trust things more when we understand them, when we know who to contact if something goes wrong, and we know what’s in it for us.

 

Read more: https://www.pwc.co.uk/trustindrones

 

Research methodology:

The research was carried out during April 2019 by Opinium. It surveyed 1,520 UK adults, sampled and weighted to be representative of the UK adult population, and 252 senior business decision makers in sectors likely to see increased drone usage.

 

 

SAM IS ....
iRed appointed as first UK authorised DJI educational partner

 

ired-dji-tello-edu-drone

ARPAS-UK member, iRed has confirmed that it has been appointed as the first DJI educational partner in the UK.

The collaboration grants exclusive access to the new Tello EDU drone and accessories, specifically designed for schools and educational centres.

iRed said it was pleased to add DJI to a list which includes CITB, Lantra, BINDT and the CAA which recognises the Hampshire-based firm for educational and specialist training.

The firm already has partnerships with academic institutes such as the University of Portsmouth, Coleg Cambria and University of Plymouth and says its hopes it can bring its educational experience into the new venture.

As part of the announcement, iRed detailed how the DJI Tello EDU drone offers a fun way for students to learn programming in languages such as Python, Swift and Scratch.

By programming the DJI Tello EDU drone to perform operations solo, or even in swarms, the students can see the results of their efforts happening physically in front of them, rather than just a display on a monitor.

In April, CDP reported on how becoming a DJI retailer had helped iRed hit £1m in turnover.

iRed has released its results for the financial year 2018-2019, returning a record breaking turnover of £1m.

As part of its growth, the firm outlined how since becoming a DJI enterprise dealer in 2017, it saw revenues increase by 300% in 2018.

Based in Emsworth, Hampshire, the company now employs 18 members of staff and has been praised by its local MP Alan Mak for creating highly skilled local jobs.

Ray Faulkner, managing director of iRed, commented: “Our strengths have been in embracing new technologies and applying them to a wide range of commercial sectors. This has enabled us to consistently increase our turnover year-on-year.”

He continued: “We’ve invested heavily in research and development over the last few years, which is now helping us to achieve our financial targets. This is aided by our reliability and consistency in service across all divisions.”

SAM IS ....
Drone pilot scheme launched across Thames Valley and Hampshire

The Joint Operations Unit of Thames Valley Police (TVP) and Hampshire Constabulary are to roll out a pilot to test the capability of drones in policing in the two force areas.

A proof of concept trial will see drones being used across the Thames Valley and Hampshire, utilising them in a number of reactive and pre-planned situations.

Each force will have three drones at their disposal during the trial, and 34 drone operators have been trained across TVP and Hampshire. Another drone has been purchased for training purposes.

The drones can be used in a variety of incidents such as searching for missing people, responding to major incidents, capturing aerial crime scene imagery, at road traffic collisions, large public events and other policing operations.

The drones are made by Yuneec and are a six engine model with high definition, optical and thermal imaging cameras and flown up to a maximum height of 400 feet (CAA Regulations).

Members of the public will see the use of drones from mid-August when the pilot scheme goes operational for both Forces.

Assistant Chief Constable David Hardcastle, responsible for operation across Thames Valley and Hampshire, said: “We are launching a proof of concept to look at the effectiveness of using drones as an operational tactic for officers in the two forces.

“We will look at how drones can assist in a variety of overt policing situations with a view to rolling out the use of drones in both forces permanently, should the pilot be a success.

“This is an exciting opportunity for both Forces, which will mean officers can get an aerial view of large areas in a short periods of time, so their use should really assist with finding offenders suspected of crime or disorder and, missing people in large open expanses or wooded areas, providing live feeds for officers at major incidents or football games and protests and many other applications.

“Both Thames Valley Police and Hampshire Constabulary are committed to using technology to fight crime and make the public safer and hopefully the use of drones will be another tool available to do this.”

GFL