Hi Leasx, I don't believe drones are a competitive factor at...

Hi Leasx,

I don't believe drones are a competitive factor at all. In fact they are a cost/benefit opportunity. My primary point here is that NEA's business model has very little to do with the type of aerial platform used. Their commercial levers lie within their photometric hardware/software and their multi versatile verticals. The physics of light and photography will largely dictate the size/capacity of the hardware that can be used in these circumstances and such hardware is also often accompanied by other measurement technology such as LIDAR etc. All in all this means for a relatively large (50-100kg+) packet. Yes, the technology/time curve will bring this down but most drones hate anything north of 2-3kgs, have limited time aloft (usually sub 30 mins), fly at half the speed, and still will require a licenced pilot to operate in urban airspace.

As I've said before, this is not a matter of strapping a GoPro to your kid's drone. Drones with 50+kg capacity and any meaningful endurance (say 3-4hrs) are actually very expensive ($500k-$1m+?). So at this stage, I strongly doubt that that such a drone could compete ($/km2 coverage basis) with a cheap Cessna 210N which can fly Sydney in 3 days for about $2500/day. And if drones could compete, well then, great...NEA would very likely hand over their equipment to drone operators if there was an obvious benefit.

Not competition at all.

However, the boffin that can break the laws of physics and light and come up with an uber-light (sub 5kgs)photometric medium that can identify and position a high res pixel as accurately and with the clarity of current systems will be able to write their own fortune.

There's no doubt that the business of visual data capture will see hardware size and weight come down while drone capacities (and regulation) escalate and eventually the two will cross a cost/benefit point in the future that will negate the need for large photometry hardware and fixed wing platforms. But I see it as being at least 5 years off. In any event, I'm sure NEA is keeping close tabs on, if not staying ahead of such possible technological developments. But I also see NEA's business evolving more towards big data management and analytics than toward actual data capture.

Cheers,