DroneDeploy Offers 2018 Commercial Drone Industry Predictions

Miriam McNabb

7 years ago

Leading drone mapping platform DroneDeploy undeniably has a birds’ eye view of the drone industry – pun intended. In a new e-book, the company offers their top predictions for the drone industry in 2018.

Supporting a global customer base, millions of acres of maps in a wide variety of verticals, and the industry’s largest app store of integrated partners, DroneDeploy is at the forefront of drone technology as it develops. Drone operators and the rest of the industry will want to take note of these top trends. We’ve summarized a few of DroneDeploy’s insights below – for the complete e-book visit DroneDeploy’s site here.

The Consumerization of Drones. Consumerization is the concept that complex machines get simple enough for anyone to use – and drones are definitely moving in that direction. “The best technologies address the needs of individuals and businesses alike, while also solving problems across industries,” says DroneDeploy CEO Mike Winn.

Drone Programs are Moving In-House. A 2017 report by Skylogic Research saw 67% of drone programs using in-house employees, vs. 10% who outsourced to contractors. DroneDeploy sees this trend continuing in 2018.

Fleets of Hundreds and Thousands of Drones. DroneDeploy believes that as enterprise adoption continues its rapid advance, the industry will start to see large scale fleets deployed. The technology is already there – demonstrated by Intel’s light shows and other commercial applications. DroneDeploy thinks in 2018 those fleets may become mainstream.

AI and Machine Learning. Most drone technology companies agree – AI and machine learning are coming of age. The value in drone data is in the insights that it provides: AI helps to save time and improve the quality of that data and its analysis. Machine learning is helping drones become more automated, consistent, and easy to use.

“By knowing about the data collected, AI can benefit users as it gets to know what customers want to do with it. And machine learning will enable instant decisions during the drone’s flight. For example, it can work to guarantee good image quality, and route the drone for a second pass where and when necessary,” says Nick Pilkington, DroneDeploy’s CTO.

One thing that all of the 2018 predictions we’ve seen for the drone industry agree upon is growth. Options and tools are developing rapidly. The applications are expanding and adoption is increasing. And all of it is good news for providers, pilots and their customers.

Miriam McNabb

Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.

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