Page 16 - World Airnews Magazine October Edition 2020

OPINION

THE BRIGHT LIGHT

OF DRONES

By Justin Melman

hink of these words creator, initiator,

Texpert, council, pioneer, pivot, leader,

influencer, accelerator, innovator…

A lot of people unconnected to the aviation
and drone industry often ask what is the future of

drones? Then again, those of us who are connect-
ed to the industry, constantly ask ourselves the
same question. In summary, there is never a short

answer.
Testament to this was the recent Drone World
Congress trade show in Shenzhen City, China.
Over 1000 drones made by over 400 Companies
from over 30 Countries were laid out for those
lucky individuals who could travel. A display of
that magnitude could only be matched by Las
Vegas trade shows for patriotic topics oozing
freedom and Bald Eagles. Yet, as I have queried
all along, with those sheer numbers, how could
we as South Africans, be so narrow minded to
believe that a single brand of aircraft, let alone
their basic models of aircraft are sufficient
enough to make any significant impact in our
own local industry? We as South Africans may
be dreaming just a little too small at this point
and blaming legislation for it.
I don’t disagree that in some ways we are being
stifled but we must ultimately consider the Risk
versus Reward.
What we have been shown recently however,
is the world’s temperament to be able to remove
people from jobs previously thought of as ‘Essen-
tial’ to our modern world, while those thought

to be replaced in the next wave of technological
advancement came to the forefront with basic or
rudimentary skills.
Where most industries started looking for
‘analogue’ solutions to downscale in order to

survive, a lot of other industries and people viewed
drones as the one-stop, world saving solution. The

only reason I can attribute this type of thinking

is because the world has never relied so heavily
on technology to survive in an Armageddon like
state and drones are correctly viewed as a leading
technological advance.
About the smartest thing I’ve read this week
(bearing in mind these articles are written
some time before publishing), is the retail giant
Walmart teaming up with Zipline. Zipline is the
type of simple concept operation, made suc-
cessful by evolving one-step at a time and really
mastering the intended operation. Walmart,
despite its financial backing, has seen Zipline for
the experienced partner they need to ensure
the population stocked up on their BBQ sauce

World Airnews | October 2020
W orld Airne w s | Oct ober 2020
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