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AS DISRUPTIVE AS COMPUTERS
Others share Dr Ball’s enthusiasm. Last year, PwC
Australia published a report ‘Clarity from Above’ that
pegged the global value of commercial applications of
drones at US$127 billion and likened their impact to the
IT revolution. PwC Australia’s Digital Experience Centre
Leader Nick Spooner says that drones are already
making the transition from novelty item to essential
business tool. “In the very near future, clients in all areas
of the economy will begin to see the impact of drones
on their operational processes – from the way they
receive deliveries to how they interact with their
insurers,” the report states.
Alan Jones, an angel investor in drone companies
and adviser at the Sydney-based start-up accelerator
BlueChilli, says that he’s certain drones are the next big
thing in business. “I think drones and the internet are
similar game changers, in that the true impact is
probably far greater than anybody can conceive of at
this stage, without it seeming like science fiction.”
A BALANCING ACT
However, drones throw up complex ethical questions
and safety concerns, so it’s little surprise that aviation
regulators around the world are responding with
varying degrees of caution. China, for instance, has a
total ban on flying drones despite producing 85 per
cent of the world’s commercial drones, while the
usually progressive Sweden has imposed severe
restrictions on flying drones equipped with a camera.
In 2002, Australia became the first country to
regulate the operation of drones. Dr Ball credits both
the certainty and the flexibility of Australia’s laws with
attracting foreign investment and providing massive
opportunities for economic growth, particularly as a
provider of commercial drone pilot licences. “Everyone
looks to Australian legislation as really good and solid,”
she says.
This year, Japan’s leading drone manufacturer,
Terra Drone, chose Brisbane as its new Asia–Pacific
headquarters, where it has begun working on mining,
railway and pipeline construction projects. Its CEO,
Toru Tokushige, whose success with disruptive
technologies has earned him a reputation as the ‘Elon
Musk of Japan’, says that Australia was the obvious
choice. “The reason we decided to step into Australia
is because UAV laws aren’t strict and the government is
willing to take new technologies into various industries.
In China and India, UAV laws are very strict because
their governments don’t want UAVs to be utilised for
military use. This would be a big obstacle for us to
operate around.”
Tokushige says that his drone technology can slash
traditional surveying costs by two-thirds while taking a
fifth of the time to complete, and that the demand for
drones in construction is bigger than in any other
sector. Indeed, PwC predicts that infrastructure has the