Ontario-based Aeryon Labs, a manufacturer of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS), closed a $60 million investment from
Summit Partners Monday,
The company operates in both the civil and military sectors and is ranked seventh as a 2014 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 company. At the current rate of development, the Teal Group projects global spending on drones will represent a staggering US$91 billion by 2024, largely driven by civil and
commercial use.
The fast growth of the market is raising some regulatory headaches however, last week it emerged the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a plan requiring all drone owners to register their vehicles with the US Department of Transportation to help “build a culture of accountability and responsibility.”
Already, insurers are moving into the niche. In April,
Zurich Canada became one of the first to launch a drone insurance product. Urs Uhlmann, CEO, Global Corporate,
Zurich Canada, noted that commercial use of drones in Canada is growing rapidly. In 2014, Transport Canada issued 1,672
Special Flight Operations Certificates (SFOCs) required to operate commercial drones, compared to 345 SFOCs in 2012, an increase of 485% in just two years.
But like many new technologies that have started to gain widespread public acceptance in recent years, users may be tempted to rush in and seize the benefits offered at the expense of gaining a full
appreciation of the new risks the technology may introduce, Uhlmann said.
“In the case of drones, the overarching risk is a lack of understanding that operating a drone is a serious aviation activity, which requires training, staffing and operational procedures that may lie outside an organization’s core competencies,” he said.
Moreover, as regulators around the world grapple with the challenge of integrating commercial drones into the airspace, a common feature of these rules is required minimums for liability insurance. Tailor-made insurance products have emerged on the market, in large part because of
the exclusions for aviation activities that exist in most general liability policies, so companies that are bringing drones into their operations are advised to work with insurance and risk management providers that can help them understand and protect themselves from these new and evolving risks.
