Drones will have a significant impact on our society. New applications with drones spring up like mushrooms and will radically change the way we live and work in the future. At a rapid pace, a completely new economy is emerging that also has an impact on other industries. About 60 students Economics from the Agnetencollege in Peer visited DronePort on 13 January 2020 to learn about the economic impact of drones.
The visit started with a tour through the workshops, incubator and offices of DronePort. The students learned that the campus is a collaboration between different governments. LRM, City of Sint-Truiden and POM Limburg invested around 12 million euros in 2018 in the development of the first phase of the DronePort campus with the aim of giving the drone industry a boost and thus creating new employment opportunities. . Because of the unique combination between manned and unmanned aviation, companies from all over Europe come to settle or do tests in DronePort.
The visit continues with an explanation of the possibilities of drones and the different types of applications that exist. Today, there are already many concrete applications of drones in, for example, the construction, agriculture, security, government and logistics sectors. Very often, drones in such sectors are interesting for making existing processes faster, safer and more efficient. Yet there is still a lot of additional research to make concepts that are still in their infancy today.
EUKA, the Flemish Drone Federation, therefore supports its membership in the further development of their products and services, both technologically and economically. By submitting subsidy projects together with partner organizations and companies, funds can be made available for additional research and knowledge dissemination. Initiatives such as the post-graduate Drones Business Architect from PXL also help companies to gain insight into the commercialization of their products.
After an instructive explanation about the economic added value of drones, the students were able to enjoy a drone demonstration by DR-one in The Cage of DronePort. A nice ending to a fascinating morning.
