Imagine for a moment a relaxing day at the beach, when suddenly you hear the sound of someone in the ocean who appears to be in distress. Next, picture the arrival of a drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle, carrying a flotation device to rescue the individual—eventually replacing or supplementing the role of the traditional beach lifeguard. For now, the buzz about drones seems to be centered on delivery strategies, but what if, in addition to delivering packages, drones could be used to protect people from harm? That's where the company Airware comes in.

Recently awarded Small Business Innovator of the Year by USA Today, Jonathan Downey is the founder of Airware, the fast-growing commercially operated drone company based in San Francisco.

Airware's Aerial Information Platform (AIP) combines hardware, software, and cloud services to enable companies to quickly customize, efficiently manage, and safely and reliably operate commercial drones for a variety of uses, including industrial and infrastructure inspections, land and agriculture management, public safety, surveying and mapping, search and rescue, and even wildlife conservation.

A number of companies are using Airware's AIP to help inspect factories and pipelines, to monitor large tracts of farmland, and to collect overhead video and measurement data. For farmers, drones can be used for crop surveillance to increase crop yields and to minimize the cost of labor used to walk the fields or more costly traditional airplane flyover inspections. As ivory poachers threaten African elephants and rhinos, drones can be used to catch them in their tracks from thousands of miles away. Within the utility, oil and gas, and telecommunications industries, Airware drones can be used to perform jobs traditionally deemed unsafe for workers—like climbing 250-foot communication towers or surveying, detecting, and locating leaks in oil and gas fields.

While some companies like e-commerce giant Amazon continue to fine-tune their drone delivery systems, companies such as Airware are using drones to turn aerial data into actionable business intelligence as well as making business operations safer and more efficient for companies.

Questions for Critical Thinking

1. Can you think of other types of commercial uses of drones?

2. Discuss the different ways Airware's drones are being used in the following industries: insurance, natural gas, utilities, and telecommunications. What are the potential risks of using drones as part of a company's overall business practices?