WATCH: Security drones in the Drone Zone at IFSEC 2018

The Drone Zone returned to IFSEC 2018 – Europe’s largest annual physical security show – for the third year running.

Drone technology has evolved rapidly in recent years. Although battery limitations remain a bugbear, in every other sense drones have become more sophisticated and useful for a widening range of applications: thermal imaging, automated security patrols and assistance with off and on-site deployment, too name a few.

Visitors to the The Drone Zone got to see the drones – and anti-drone tech – in action and speak to world-leading experts in the field.

There were also presentations and panel debates on the applications, risks, benefits and barriers to drone deployment in the Keynote Arena, plus a drone clinic hosted by the Civil Aviation Authority, providing advice on regulatory compliance, training and specialist organisations.

“There are signs of a real shift in the security sector towards taking advantage of the quickly realisable benefits of drone technology as part of a wide security portfolio.” Barry Clack, drone pilot and founder, Box Cottage Photography

Watch the video below for live footage from the Drone Zone in 2018. Scroll further down for footage from 2017 plus a short video on the applications and challenges relating to the use of security drones.

Speaking in the Keynote Theatre on day three of IFSEC International 2018 Barry Clack, founder of drone photography company Box Cottage Photography, slammed parts of the media for scaremongering about drones.

Clack, who insisting they were overall a powerful technology with myriad benefits in a range of fields, was moderating a panel of drone experts on the scope of drone applications and how to combat hostile, incompetent or dangerous use.

Echoing these sentiments in a recent article for IFSEC Global he noted that “concerns about invasion of privacy and the potential threats they could pose to businesses, property and governments have kept the focus on detection and prevention. However, there are signs of a real shift in the security sector towards taking advantage of the quickly realisable benefits of drone technology used as part of a wide security portfolio.”

In another piece he offered advice on what you need to know about using drones for your security business.

A third article saw him argue that the future growth of drones was inextricably linked to their dsurmounting technical and regulatory barriers to autonomous flight.

The global market for commercial applications was projected to be worth $127.3bn (£88bn) by 2020 – a staggering 6,000% jump in three years – by a PwC report published in May 2016. And security is set to account for $10bn (£7.8bn) worth of the market, behind only infrastructure, agriculture and transport.

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