We were delighted to meet so many members and key stakeholders, and to share our stand with a few members as well: Richard Gill of Drone Defence, Toby Townrow of Dronevolution and Chris Crockford of Electric Aviation. It was fantastic to see the interaction between them and other exhibitors and visitors, as well as being able to introduce a number of people to them.
This was the 2nd year of the UK’s only commercial UAV show, and focussed on The Future of Flight, Military & Defence, Emergency Services and the Commercial Sector.
With over 300 exhibitors and presentations, and positioned alongside Helitech, there was a wide variety of options for the visitor. Talks ranged from the Civil Aviation’s Mark Wharry on The Regulator’s Perspective (see our separate article on this keynote), PwC’s Craig Roberts on The Economic Impact of Drones on the UK Economy, to Inmarsat’s panel on Drone Deliveries: For the Good of our Health were fascinating, Thales’s Neil Watson on Accelerating the Adoption of Drone Services at Scale in the UK and Fraser Nash & The Thunderbird Project’s Stuart Keenan & Alan Bell on Priority Access to the Skies for Emergency Life-Saving Drones.
Now-Chair of ARPAS-UK, Graham Brown, spoke alongside Gordon Baker, the DfT’s Autonomous Systems Lead on Achieving the UK’s Drone Ambition and Some Steps to Achieve the Potential. If you would like a copy of this, please contact us.
There was a definite feel that the industry has become more well established, more mature and that it is being listened to by serious people. Where does the Show need to go from this solid position?
There are two complementary routes: one is to attract even more drone data end-users, i.e. industries using drones, to show how drones can help them deliver faster, safer, cheaper and more digital operations; the other is to attract (back?) the drone operators, for example by building on their professionalism via CPD sessions at the show. Sessions on different types of software, how to apply for an OSC, marketing your company, the importance of networking, the ins & outs of different types of work, how to go about finding work and how to apply for big contracts etc.
The team supporting DroneX have been very enthusiastic and supportive of the industry. They know our thoughts and we hope we will see this now being acted on.
If you would like to share your thoughts on how DroneX could evolve, please contact us membership@arpas.uk.
Exhibiting at DroneX 2023: 26-27 September 2023, London
- This is an opportunity to exhibit at the show for a vastly reduced cost. If you’re interested in doing so next year, get in touch with the Operations Team via membership@arpas.uk
- ARPAS-UK was also delighted to be able to offer a 20% discount on exhibiting to our members. We know of a couple who weren’t able to take advantage of this offer, having already booked their stand before becoming aware of it. Please remember to read our emails! We can confirm that we can offer members a 20% discount on next year.
12 September 2022