Drone Benefit Study Te Rangahau Painga mō ngā Matatopa

The results of the Drone Benefit Study suggest drones could help lift productivity across large parts of the economy. However, it will be necessary to overcome industry resistance to using drones if we are to realise their benefits.

The growth in the use of drones comes with risks so we need to manage it in a way that ensures opportunities can be captured while minimising those risks.

For our study, we commissioned Market Economic to interview:

• the aviation sector including Airways, the Civil Aviation Authority and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle New Zealand (UAVNZ) which represents many interests in the sector
• commercial companies such as Zephyr Airworks
• industry representatives like DairyNZ and FilmNZ
• innovation researchers including Callaghan Innovation, and DroneLab at the University of Canterbury
• organisations involved with emergency management including the Police, New Zealand Search and Rescue, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

The study identifies the considerable cost savings and gains in productivity that drones could offer a wide range of businesses and activities in New Zealand — for example, emergency management, construction, utilities, forestry and dairying. It also suggests how drones could develop in the future, and examines the barriers to that development, which include reluctance to invest in emerging technologies, business costs and the current regulatory environment.

The findings will help cross-government work programmes understand the value to the New Zealand economy of using drones. They will also inform our approach to regulation and how we support technological innovation with regard to drones.

The Drone Benefit Study was commissioned to help inform the ongoing work on drone integration, especially the Taking Flight vision paper.

In order to identify the role of drones and drone integration in the future aviation system, we needed to understand more about how they can be used and the full extent of the benefits that they provide.

Taking Flight

We commissioned the Drone Benefit Study:

• to understand which industries are making, and could make use of drones
• how their use could improve efficiency and savings
• the potential impact of drones on aspirational drone uses, such as parcel delivery, and
• inter-regional connectivity using drone passenger services.

As part of the Drone Benefit Study, we also wanted to hear back from various sectors about the barriers and concerns they had about using drones, and eventually integrating drones into the wider transport system.