Drone Technology: Clarity from Above

The drone revolution is disrupting industries ranging from agriculture to filmmaking.

The application of drone technologies in existing business processes is allowing companies from those industries to create new business and operating models.

According to PwC's study on the commercial applications of drone technology, the emerging global market for business services using drones is valued at over $127 bn.

This is the value of current business services and labor that are likely to be replaced in the very near future by drone-powered solutions, according to PwC predictions.

"Clarity from above seeks to quantify the impact of drones on business by examining commercial applications of drone technology across industry sectors. As this is not only about machines (drones) but their broader applications, we have decided to use the term drone powered solutions." Michał Mazur, Partner, Drone Powered Solutions

Drone Powered Solutions is also the name of PwC's global center of excellence focusing on the commercial use of drone technology.

It was created in Poland - a country which in 2013 became the first in the world to introduce a complete legal framework and institutions regulating the commercial use of drones.

"Drone applications will be a vital technology in the capital project of the future, and so we are advising project owners to place themselves at the leading edge of the innovation wave, to gain an optimum return on their investment," says Richard AbadiePwC Global Capital Projects and Infrastructure Leader.

This paper "Drone Technology: Clarity from Above" seeks to quantify that impact by examining commercial applications of drone technology across industry sectors. Of interest are not only the machines (drones), but their broader applications for business, such as in the ability to capture unprecedented levels of data. That is why we have decided to use the term ‘drone-powered solutions’.