“Forecasts for drones are wrong” says leading British drone expert

Robert Garbett, Founder and Chief Executive of British Company, Drone Major Group Ltd, the UK’s first global trade organisation for the drone industry, delivered a keynote speech on Saturday 23 June at Drone World Congress in Shenzhen, China, one of the world’s leading forums for the drone industry.

Mr Garbett said, “Less than a month ago, leading accountancy firm PwC, forecast that the drone industry in the UK alone would be worth £42billion by 2030… but they were wrong. And two years ago, top banking firm Goldman Sachs said the world’s drone industry would be worth $100billion by 2020… they were wrong… it will be much, much more… because the opportunities are far greater than this, since such projections are based purely on an analysis which focuses only on the air industry...And we must define the entire drone industry as covering surface, underwater, air and space. So many members of the public simply do not realise the full spectrum of this amazing revolutionary industry. My company, and the British Standards Institution (BSI), define a drone as any vehicle, ship, aircraft, or hybrid system which is remotely or autonomously controlled.”

“This includes autonomous vehicles, pilotless aircraft, satellites, space craft, underwater ROVs, marine surface vehicles and most excitingly of all, hybrid systems which are increasingly breaking down environmental barriers by operating seamlessly between land, sea and air or simultaneously in all three. It is therefore clear, that the UAS or air drones, with which we’ve all become familiar, are only one category in a very, varied and exciting industry. So, we should always refer to drones in the wider sense, since to do otherwise will be ignoring the inevitable and ubiquitous future of this industry… The potential is huge!”

Mr Garbett added, “This year, 2018, the worldwide drone industry will be boosted further by new drone standards, due to be released globally for public consultation by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) later this year.”

“I believe the development and adoption of these standards for the drone industry, in the months and years ahead, will lead to a new confidence in safety, security and compliance within this dynamic industry which represents a global phenomenon and a significant opportunity for any country which embraces it.”

“The new Standards will reinforce and deliver the underlying safety and quality principles upon which the drone industry can grow and thrive…energised and empowered to open up new avenues to innovation that we can only begin to imagine.”

“For this reason, we need governments around the world to recognise the importance of the development of this vital business sector, which will have such a positive impact on the global economy, providing particular opportunities for those countries that embrace and enable the growth of this technology.”

“But it is not just governments who have an important role to play in the future growth of this amazing phenomenon of ‘the rise of the drones’… it is all of us… we who are in the drone industry and who have the knowledge and ability to guide and educate the world on the possibilities ahead.”