When you hear the word ‘Drone,’ what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Gruesome images of dead bodies lying around would probably be your answer. Given the history of its use in Pakistan by the US, this is exactly what we have seen happen here. According to the statistics reported by Pakistan Body Count, over 3,000 people have been killed in US drone attacks in Pakistan and the majority of these casualties are civilians.
This is the ugly side of drones, but there is a bright side too. During the past few years, the use of drones has moved into the commercial domain and now drones are being developed for several commercial applications. The immense commercial value of drones is the driver for its use in the civilian domain. According to an estimate by Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the value of commercial drones is about $14 billion at the moment and is expected to increase to $82 billion in the 10-11 years. Are you seeing the $$$ here? Several entrepreneurs are already enticed by the possibilities.
How are Drones Used in Civilian Domain?
Drones are used in many innovative ways in the civilian domain such as:
- Police departments have started using drones for surveillance;
- One of the most promising uses is in search and rescue missions. A compelling example was seen when a drone was used in a typhoon struck city of Phillipines. A Danish IT company, Danoffice IT, donated a “civil drone” to assess the damage. “When organizations first saw it here, they thought it was a bit of a toy. But when they realized all the different uses you could do like body retrieval, road clearance, you name it, I think this is a tool that will be used in every future disaster,” told Danoffice IT sales manager Liam Dawson;
- Farmers have started using drones in the agriculture industry for monitoring crops and other purposes. “There are so many great ideas to explore using this technology,” he says. “They are easy-to-fly work toys. A quick look at fields from 300′ up can help identify lodging and wind damage issues and help you make decisions regarding field harvest order. Return on investment comes very quickly,” said Donavon Taves, a US farmer;
- The motion pictures industry is benefiting from drones by using them in difficult shoots where it is either too expensive to use live crew and equipment or too dangerous;
- British Petroleum is using it to monitor pipelines, roads, and equipment on its remote sites;
- Archaeologists have started using drones to uncover the hidden remains of the lost worlds by using aerial thermography because drones can fly at really low altitudes. “Really within a few hours we were able to survey this area that took me a long time, years of what we call ground reconnaissance and excavation to see what’s below the surface,” said University of North Florida professor John Kanter, after discovering the remains of a 1,000 year old settlement.
- Wildlife organizations are using drones to protect endangered species from poachers;
- Real estate agents are using drones to take shots of properties from every possible angle and present an enticing view to their customers. It goes beyond showing a house; they can show you the whole neighborhood and even the commuting routes you may take;
- Drones are also being used for widening internet access to areas where broadband is not available. Drones are being used to create hotspots for internet access;
Privacy Concerns
The biggest concern against the commercial use of drones is of privacy. The drones used by news organizations are viewed as a serious concern by newsworthy figures because there is already a major issue with paparazzi’s invasion of privacy. Drones will make it much easier to take compromising shots of the celebrities. Their use by law enforcement agencies is also viewed by grave concern. A senior policy analyst of the ACLU expresses his concerns, “There are definitely a lot of innovative ways to use these machines, but how do you limit what information is collected… “It changes the way people feel within their environment.”
“We need to do everything possible to prevent a Big Brother society where government exerts too much control of our lives or has too much access to our private information,” says Rex Damschroder, a US congressman.
How Soon Can We Expect Drones Flying Over Our Head?
It may be sooner than you think because the main obstacle is the formulation of the laws governing the use of drones. At the moment commercial use of drones is banned in most countries including the US. However, the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has to devise a framework for licensing of commercial drones by September 2015. According to Wall Street Journal, at least 50 companies are producing approximately 150 variants of drones in different sizes. The number of drone producers is going to increase based on its commercial viability.
Just like any other technology, drones are just tools and their use depends upon the humans behind them. Pakistan has some of the brightest technological minds and we should expect Pakistanis to put this amazing technology to good use for making life better for Pakistanis. How would you like a drone to deliver piping hot pizza at your doorstep during a ‘pahya jam hartaal?’