What might it feel like, I wonder, to step outside your front door and be followed by a drone. Every step you take, every move you make, it’ll be watching you – is the tune by The Police buzzing around your head – recording you, collecting data about you. Imagine the sky filled with drones, all of them targeting numerous individuals at once.
Fortunately, while the use of drones can raise anxiety levels in the community, the reality is nothing like above. There are numerous laws in drone usage that protect the privacy of individuals and the safety of our air space. Yet, while the public might find them a nuisance, drones are a vital tool in the commercial sector to collect data. From the construction industry, to agriculture, to transport and defence, drones have brought in cost-effective measures to aid in planning and executing tasks, as well as revolutionalised the way data is captured, transmitted and stored.
As drone technology grows and matures, it becomes increasingly important for industry to understand what that means for their information technology and software. Data is useless and valueless unless it is accessible and leveragable.
Drone technology can capture a vast amount of data in mere minutes. A pilot in a construction company in the US sent a drone on a twenty-minute flight which resulted in 32 gigabytes of data1. With such volumes of data becoming so rapidly available, storing it can present a real problem for some businesses. The traditional data storage called vertical scalability isn’t built to cope with the demands of big data. Data storage soon resembles a house with a wonky upper storey added in a rushed, thoughtless manner to create a quick-fix. It’s not supported. You know it’s going to crash.
Businesses then, must find ways to adequately store captured data from drone technology in order to effectively leverage that data to create better business outcomes and builds value in asset management.
What are some of the ways your business captures data from drones? Consider joining our Data in Asset Management Special Interest Group to share knowledge and learn more about best-practice methods.