The health emergency has hit the drone sector.
After the growth recorded in 2019 (+ 17% on 2018), in the year of Covid the professional drone market loses share, going from a value of 117 million euros to a total of 73 million euros, with a decrease of 38 %.
These are the results of the research of the Drones Observatory of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano, presented during the online conference 'Drones: creating a system for greater development'.
According to the report, almost half of the companies in the sector were able to carry out only a small part of their daily activities (48%) and one in five were forced to close (21%).
The industrial application projects of drones surveyed from secondary sources, 199 in 2020, decreased by 20% compared to the previous year, even by 50% in the case of trials and operational projects, while one-off uses increased.
The crisis - explains the observer - has however highlighted the potential of this technology for monitoring the population, the delivery of medical material, the communication of guidelines on social distancing, the sanitation of buildings and roads, with over 60 international projects registered. , born with these purposes in response to the emergency, of which 70% activated by public administrations.
However, only a minority of Italian municipalities are using them: 29%, although only 28% excludes the possibility of using them in the next 3 years.
"The new Regulation (in force since 31 December 2020, ed) has been welcomed by companies in the sector - explains Marco Lovera, Scientific Director of the Drones Observatory -: in fact, 60% of companies maintain that it will give an important boost to the market commercial and industrial drones ".