Bayer digital farming drone

Flying drones are set to give the UK economy a £42billion boost by 2030 according to research.

Accountancy firm PwC suggested the uptake of drone technologies could lead to £16bn savings, with 76,000 of them to take to our skies in the next twelve years.

The report said their introduction may initially lead to job losses, but that demand and new requirements will create new jobs, as well as transforming how we work.

Of the 76,000 drones that we project will be flying across UK skies by 2030, over a third will used by the public sector, including for defence, health and education, contributing to a safer UK, according to PwC.

Drones are already in the first steps of being rolled out in agriculture as farm mapping hardware, creating data driven ‘smart farms’ able to make accurate algorithms and diagnostics for crop production.

In March agri-drone specialists Hummingbird Technologies, raised £3million from a number of backers, including Sir James Dyson.

A UK Drones leader, Elaine Whyte said: “While drones are often viewed as more of a toy currently, by combining this emerging technology with the right business understanding and human insight there is a huge opportunity to help solve some of business and society’s most important problems.”