Drone technology presents an unprecedented opportunity for businesses and society. From reducing traffic on our roads, to speeding up the delivery of aid and urgent medical supplies, there is much drones can do. They are already proving an excellent tool for businesses, who are using drones to better manage and maintain their assets and reduce the amount of working at height. They are also capable of going into hostile or inaccessible environments for the purposes of search and rescue or research, relaying images and data and bringing new capabilities to sectors such as the emergency services, academia and the scientific community.
‘Amazing but scary’
But to deliver on the promise of drones, it is important the public is on-side and businesses see and understand the potential. To achieve these goals there are some hurdles to overcome.
PwC research into public and business attitudes towards drones has revealed less than a third (31%) of the UK public currently feel positive towards drone technology.
Our research also found many people are unsure and waiting to be convinced. Others admit they simply don’t know enough about the technology. One member of the public described drones as “amazing but scary”. A business respondent said they are “not sure what [drones] are capable of doing”.
Public and business trust is there to be won. But to do so requires three factors to be addressed: Education, Accountability and Reward and Benefit. It is human nature that we trust things more when we understand them, when we know who to contact if something goes wrong, and we know what’s in it for us.
Read more: https://www.pwc.co.uk/trustindrones
Research methodology:
The research was carried out during April 2019 by Opinium. It surveyed 1,520 UK adults, sampled and weighted to be representative of the UK adult population, and 252 senior business decision makers in sectors likely to see increased drone usage.