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Clearly, the commercial conference business is big business. Conference organisers try hard to look like they have a stake in the industry that this week they are charging enormous sums for exhibition space in huge barn-like halls. It is cut-throat out there. Now, the organising companies, which, should you be in any doubt, do it for commercial gain, want you to think that they are part of the fabric of the industry, rather than a service supplier.
For them it is aviation this week, bus interiors next week, but no doubt they want the bus industry to think they are part of the fabric of that industry too. They will have spent months doing surveys, making reports and generally being everywhere inside bus interiors. They must be grateful it is not faecal sludge.
Ahead of the annual Countering Drones Global conference, its commercial organisers, the almost oxymoronic Defence IQ, have released their stab at being an industry insider, a Global Market Report that showed remarkably little commercial interest in counter drone solutions. For some, that might be a back-to-the-drawing-board moment, but Defence IQ soldier on. To be fair to Defence IQ, they focus on defence, but that is not all that narrow a focus.
Unsurprisingly, given that it follows a very similar structure to the UK Government’s drone consultation by surveying industry stakeholders, the report came to many of the same conclusions. That must be gratifying to the Department for Transport, if not for Defence IQ.
The conference, taking place in December at Chelsea Football Club in London, makes no pretences as to its purpose. One look at the agenda shows speeches titled: “The Menace of Drones in the Prison Environment” and “Can We Just Shoot Them Down – Countering UAVS in Canada”. Clearly this is not a conference for UAV enthusiasts.
The market report, which came out last month, surveyed a wide and unbiased cross-section of industries. Amongst the top respondents came from the airports, construction, and ATM sectors, although participants ranged from academia to government organisations to film studios.
Using last year’s survey as a benchmark, the market report aimed to establish whether there has been a negative shift in opinion on drones. And to some extent there has. When questioned whether drones are likely to cause a major security incident in the next five years, 42.7% of those surveyed responded “almost certainly”, a 7% increase from 12 months ago.
However, when brought into the context of the upcoming conference, 36% had no plans for counter drone technology, whilst a further 25.1% responded that they had no current need for it. Similarly, 28% of respondents answered that they had no plan for a counter drone strategies or equipment, a 3% increase from last year. Unfortunately for Defence IQ, there appears to be little link between perceived threat and interest in investing in counter drone technologies or equipment.
Despite limited interest in technological approaches, the report alludes to a counter drone solution that is almost universally supported: education. Mirroring the UK DfT report, there is an overwhelming consensus that the public are insufficiently informed on drone legislation, with over 85% believing it can be improved. It is therefore unsurprising that over half the respondents saw the most likely cause of an incident to be from accidental amateur misuse.
In coming to these conclusions, the report highlights the hypocrisy in the Countering Drones Conference. Despite the overwhelming opinion of industry “experts” that the greatest danger is from accidents, the speeches revolve around weaponised drones, illegal use and defence systems.
The data from Defence IQ’s study, as well as the UK DfT consultation, suggests that a truly effective countering drone conference would be based on educating the public on drone guidelines. Doing so would reduce the need for the technologies, strategies and equipment that, based on the market report, are already a minority interest, whilst simultaneously boost the drone market. But who wants to go around peddling knowledge and awareness when you can sell cannons that fire anti-drone netting? Perhaps Defence IQ should drop the ‘IQ’ and just focus on marketing the defence.
