As drones have expanded into large commercial applications large consulting organizations such as Deloitte are seeking to build expertise at the enterprise level to aid their clients in the application and deployment of drone technology.
According to a 2017 McKinsey report, the value of drone activity in the US has risen from $40 million in 2012 to about $1 billion in 2017. The consulting firm projects that commercial drones, including corporate and consumer applications, will account for between $31 and $46 billion of US GDP by 2026.
“The application of drones is almost limitless across numerous industries,” said Peter Liu, managing director, Deloitte Consulting LLP and drone offering champion. “With so much potential, however, comes a lot of risk and we are not only helping clients figure out the best way to use drones but deploy them in a way that meets their business objective, adheres to government regulations, and gets them the data they need to make the right decisions.”
“As companies or government entities look to manage their drone risk, we’ve outlined key steps that they can take to proactively address that increasing risk,” said Chris Hewlett, specialist leader, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and Deloitte US Global Drone Solutions offering leader. “Some of the biggest risks to organizations are from unintended consequences, which could seem unpredictable and difficult to prepare for, but through risk assessment, crisis management, and modeling, organizations can mitigate that risk.”