The UAE Drones for Good Award and Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) today announced a partnership to host the Middle East’s largest-ever live drone activation zone at GITEX Technology Week 2015.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), widely known as drones, range in size from five centimetres to 50 metres and are seeing strong take-up across multiple major industries.
The UAE Drones for Good Award predicts that the global drone industry will create up to $10 billion in economic impact and more than 100,000 jobs by 2025.
In particular, the global market for commercial and civilian drones is set to grow at a CAGR of 19% from 2015 to 2020, nearly quadruple the rate for military drones, according to BI Intelligence.
Regionally, the UAE Drones for Good Award is driving drone innovation with its annual competition, which saw 800 submissions from 57 different countries in the inaugural event held earlier this year.
A selection of the Drones for Good winners and leading drone manufacturers will showcase their pioneering drones at GITEX Technology Week’s new GTX Horizons zone in The Plaza.
Alongside the drones cluster will be a robotics display featuring global launches from Robotics Zone Partner DigiRobotics, and a Future of Transport area.
“The inaugural winners of the Drones for Good competition demonstrated how drone technology can improve people’s lives and solve issues through technology.
“With 2015 being the UAE’s Year of Innovation, showcasing the latest drone models at GITEX Technology Week will demonstrate to an international audience how the UAE is a global hub for technological innovation,” said Saif Al Aleeli, award coordinator, UAE Drones for Good Award, the event’s official Drones Zones Partner.
Switzerland-based Flyability won the Drones for Good $1 million first prize for its Collision Resistant Drone for search and rescue missions. Additional winners included New York University Abu Dhabi, whose drone can help to preserve wildlife in Wadi Wurayah National Park; and Etisalat, whose drones can expand wireless network coverage.
