With the ability to be adapted and used in a large variety of applications, drones have been partnered with technology uses across the spectrum, from medicine to the film industry.

Here are a few cases where drones have broken into the marketplace.

Medical Deliveries Take Flight

The medical industry has become increasingly interested in using drones for delivery. From blood tests to medication, medical facilities are looking to drones to increase efficiency by limiting ground transportation.
Pharmacy retailer and Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® Member Walgreens has partnered with Wing, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, to explore this type of use case.

Wing is participating in a pilot program run by the Federal Aviation Administration and was granted an expanded air carrier certificate, which allows them to operate drones in the Blacksburg-Roanoke area of Virginia. Through the partnership, customers in the area are able to order over-the-counter medication and other small products through an app and have them delivered via drone. The first deliveries took place in October 2019 in Christiansburg, Virginia.

Vineet Mehra, the global chief marketing officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance, explained this project and more in the session “Innovations in Last Mile” at CES® 2020.

Drone-Driven Resilience

Drones have opened a world of possibilities for new solutions to resilience challenges because of their ability to access hard-to-reach locations, and make more common locations more conveniently accessible as well. Drones can assist in intelligence gathering, agriculture, delivering supplies and more.

The white paper Disruptive Tech for Climate Change Resilience (PDF) further discusses the role of drones, and other tech, in this sphere and how pricing and accessibility can further affect success.

During CES 2020, a diverse panel representing biomedicine, marketing, the World Bank, the climate change ministry in Bangladesh and the housing ministry in Colombia, discussed how disruptive tech, such as drones, can transform the way we build countries’ resilience to disasters and climate change.

Carols Reyes, the housing policy director at the Ministry of Housing, Cities and Territory in Colombia, detailed how drones are being used to build housing resilience. Reyes’s teams were able to survey and inventory entire cities using drones, and this assessment allowed them to develop risk assessments and maps that drove decisions about investments.  

Redefining Marketing and Entertainment

The use of drones has been fully embraced by the entertainment industry. Known for creating jaw-dropping aerial shots, professionals want to expand the role of drones in the industry to deliver content that will continue to surprise audiences.

At CES 2020, the “Drones: More Than Just Aerial Footage” panel discussed the logistics behind drone usage and how it affects the industry. From film and television to the news, drones have created new opportunities for storytellers.

Outside of film and television, drones are providing an opportunity for marketers to go beyond traditional advertising methods, such as enabling moving billboards or distributing flyers or menus.

Taking Gaming to the Next Level

Multiple roles have been carved out for drones in the gaming world. Drones have become part of the game as both an in-game tool and as a game themselves in drone racing and combat.

On the development side, game makers are using drones to create more realistic maps and improve the quality of their visuals. Because drones can access areas previously out of reach or taxing to capture, drone footage of textures and colors of areas that are featured in games make it even more life-like.

There are plenty of drone projects in the pipeline, and we will continue to see the tool used more throughout the industry and applied throughout everyday life.

Learn more about the broad range of drones featured at CES 2020.