As part of 2019 Commercial UAV Expo Americas, high-level players operating within the commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) space met in a series of closed-door roundtable discussions. Each discussion focused on a key industry vertical and the challenges that these industries were facing.
Because competitors were willing to come together to address industrywide problems, they revealed systemwide challenges within their industries. Although each vertical had separate and distinct concerns, some overarching themes and concerns were shared by all, including navigating regulations, finding the right technology to suit their needs, and finding ways to educate the public about drone operations.
The hearings revealed that each industry met with challenges in almost every sector along the supply chain from hardware and regulations to management software and data analytics. The purpose of this report is to distill key insights from the Energy and Utilities Roundtable Conversations into actionable takeaways for the industry.