Are drones the insurance industry's next game-changer? According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), seven million small drones could fill the sky by 2020 and as many as 2.7 million of them will be used for commercial purposes. More specifically, the insurance industry is set to be one of the top markets to utilize drones. Why? UAS technology holds vast potential for streamlining and reducing the cost of insurance-related processes—from claims adjustment and risk engineering to eliminating fraudulent agricultural claims.

Many industries have been reluctant to utilize the revolutionary technology of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, because of cumbersome federal regulations. Fortunately, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revised the rules in 2016, easing the requirements on drones used for commercial purposes.

NASA’s most recent demonstrations of drone traffic management technologies occurred during a month-long campaign, known as Technology Capability Level 2 (TCL2) National Campaign. The campaign featured NASA and its partners testing the next, more complex version of its Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) technologies with live, UAS, or drones, at six different test sites across the country.

Commercial industry use of drones continues to grow and is expected to make an especially significant impression in the coming years particularly in regards to solar power. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, are in the midst of revolutionizing the renewable energy sector—as long as they don’t get their wings cut short by regulations.

Not only for sports and news coverage, commercial drones are now increasingly being used for another relatively new frontier: film making. Aerial filming in movie production can provide audiences with more spectacular views than ever before. Now, celebrated television series and Oscar winning films are being captured with the help of this exciting, yet controversial new technology. 

Among the many industries benefiting from the increased availability of drones or UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems), is the security sector. Drones have become an asset to public safety especially with the help of operational intelligence (OI) technologies like Mission Insight™ to improve situational awareness in shared airspace. They are regularly used to conduct search and rescue missions, assess crime scenes and monitor and manage special events. Large events such as the recent presidential inauguration or the upcoming Super Bowl require the kind of intense security measures that drones uniquely provide.

Drones continue to rise in popularity, for both commercial and private industry. Research firm Markets on Markets predicts that the global drone industry will grow to reach $5.6 billion by 2020. That’s a potential for quite a few drones in the shared airspace.