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WHEN AMAZON FIRST unveiled its demo of a drone delivery service, the hype surrounding them was at an all-time high.
That buzz has died down, but what it and others initiatives have shown is it’s an industry that’s quietly growing in popularity with both businesses and regular people.
So it’s probably no surprise that of the many conferences that are held here, there would be one dedicated to that very subject.
It’s something that Phil McNamara decided to organise last year and is now preparing to hold its second Drones Data X conference in Westport. It takes place straight after the Web Summit on 6 November, and it expects to accommodate 450 to 500 people, a jump from the 150 people who attended last year.
The Web Summit’s move to Lisbon next year is a hit for it, but its organiser, Phil McNamara, originally from Galway but based in the US with VoxPro, is confident that it has enough to keep people coming back after this year.
“It’s going to make it harder for us as we do benefit from the huge amount of people who came over for that”, says McNamara. ”But at the same time, we’re standing on our own two feet, and attract people on our own merit. So we’re hopeful it will be bigger and stronger next year”.
The attraction is the fact that it’s more a gathering than a conference. While there are talks and discussions about the industry, the real draw is the location itself.
Part of its draw is going to Achill Island where the likes of kitesurfing, hiking and other activities happen after the talks. The idea is it allows people to get to know each other in different surroundings, and it’s something that McNamara feels would encourage people to come back to future events.
It’s a much better way to get to know people [and] it’s also a big leveler. Some of these people, they’re very famous in their own field, but you take them out of that and put them on a surfboard, and see them falling off just like you… [to see that they're the same as you] that’s what makes it nice.
But there’s still an underlining interest in how the industry is going to pan out, and how quickly it’s growing. In Ireland alone, there are 75 companies that have a licence for flying drones and the rural landscape presents opportunities for testing and development that wouldn’t be possible if you’re closer to more urban areas.
It also brings its own opportunities with McNamara saying people are more willing to come here to talk about drones than other subjects because of the excitement around it.
“It’s a really good way of attracting people into the country”, he says. “If I say ‘we want you to talk about drones’, then people are more willing to get into that because it’s an exciting area.”
There are a lot more companies getting into drones and the whole scene in Ireland is really picking up… Ireland has a massive opportunity to present itself as the best place to start a drone company, to do drone testing, and develop drone software.
One of the speakers at the event is Romeo Durscher, the director of education at DJI, who likens the development of drone technology to the moon landings, not because of what happened but how they got to that point.
“I always compare it to the 1960s where JFK said… we’ll walk on the moon”, says Durscher. “What’s more amazing is all the things that got invented along that process that we still use today”.
Yet what could hinder its development is public perception. When they’re toys, then it’s not as bad, but as they become more prevalent, and regulations are drafted up, the idea of such machines whizzing around in any form will gradually happen, but become concerning.
That, Druscher believes, will be solved by showing the different applications and as people become more aware of them.
If we can educate and set social norms, these kind of things will disappear and we won’t have as many negative stories, but we can emphasise the positive aspects like saving animals or bringing lifesaving equipment quicker to areas where they’re needed and that will show what the technology can do for us in the future.
This month, as part of TheJournal.ie’s ongoing startup and small and medium enterprise (SME) focus, we are looking at innovation in rural Ireland.
To read previous stories from our collection click here.
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Adults who dress as bee’s and glue themselves to buses are absolute screwballs end of story.
@KingBongoHead: did you see the guy who glued himself to the Lib Dems bus last week in protest of emissions?? Shame he missed to first 2 letters of the bus reg plate, EV.. Electric vehicle. Total idiots.
@KingBongoHead: says KingBongoHead…
@Peter Cavey: really? I never saw that ffs
Fair play to them. UK need to do their part as we face into a crisis that will outlast the Brexit “crisis”. Seeing the unprecedented floods in South Africa today, drives it home: this is affecting people already. It’s not about our grandkids, it’s destroying communities right now.
@Oisín O’Connor: the rubbish lads spout about this ‘climate crisis’.. ‘unprecedented floods’.. the world was once completely underwater ffs
@Marty G: *slow claps*
@Marty G: Insightful. Thanks Marty.
@joe: Can you please provide a link that explains why Forbes is now an authority on climate change science? Or why it takes a special interest. Thanks.
@joe: …Because “mainstream media outlets are providing an outlet for the denialists. For example, in an op-ed recently published by Forbes, an unqualified scientist (Vincent R Gray) with a background in the coal industry shares mostly fact-free views about climate change and the IPCC.”
@joe: Mind you, your article was written by Michael Shellinger, a well known shill.
https://www.wiseinternational.org/nuclear-monitor/853/exposing-misinformation-michael-shellenberger-and-environmental-progress
@Paraic: everyones a shill according to you if they don’t agree with what you think.
@joe: you get your news from a website that also covers fortnite storys, I bet your still waiting for the worst winter in history because your read the star last week
@Marty G: the world was not completely under water, such nonsense.
The only people that believe this are hard core Bible zealots who believe in noahs ark
@Barry: the only zealots here are the hysterical climate change brigade, swallowing whole anything a 16 year old tells them. at one stage in the earths history it was almost completely underwater (there were a few islands), a quick google search will confirm this. sure it even rained for 2 million years straight at one stage aswell.. but sure what would I know compared to grown ups who dress up as bees and glue themselves to busses
@Paraic: apparently he has changed his stance on nuclear.
@Marty G: You actually believe it rained for 2 million years straight?!? The Carnian Pluvial Event was a shift from dry conditions to humid conditions, not a 2 million year long rain storm. It’s associated with increased extinction events because the animals and plants were used to more dry environments. So it didn’t rain for 2 million years then and no, it couldn’t rain for 2 million years now.
You mock people who listen to a girl who is repeating scientific facts, proven facts, yet this is what you believe?? You’re right in one way, some people will swallow anything.
@Paraic: it’s written by a guy called Michael Shelleberger. All he does is highlight lies made by crazy climate change people!
He doesn’t deny climate change but against the impact and how most claims are exaggerated and that this is actually harming the fight against climate change!
@Paraic: did you read the article? He doesn’t disagree with the ipcc.
@Marty G: lololol Rained for two million years straight. You sir are either a Baffoon or trolling.
@joe: Did you read the article? The guy has a reputation for making claims that are proveably false (a polite way of saying, he’s a liar). Forbes don’t care about facts, it’s a pro-capitalist publication not a science journal. If you want to get your science facts from a capitalist business magazine, you get what you deserve.
@Football in the Groin: It obviously didn’t rain for every second of the 2 million years, the same way when a weatherman says it will rain for the week he doesn’t mean it will rain for precisely 168 hours.. the point is all these zealots talking about unprecedented flooding are spreading unnecessary hysteria.
@Dermot Foley: the awkward moment when you try to insult someone but are too stupid to spell the word you are trying to use
@Football in the Groin: and if you think that what that child is peddling are proven facts then your in trouble pal
@Marty G: Have you seen Victoria Falls lately? Or the cliffs of Victoria as they’re now known. Just sayin’. https://gulfnews.com/photos/news/photos-water-flow-at-iconic-victoria-falls-hits-lowest-level-in-decades-1.1575893890341?slide=16
@Oisín O’Connor: and a bunch of morons dressed as bees is the answer?
@Paraic: what’s the point here bud? So we’ve too much water in south africa according to oisin, and not enough up the road in zimbabwe according to your link.. i agree that some countries are doing disgraceful things to the environment, but we cant lose our minds about changes in the weather that have been happening for billions of years..
@Marty G: South Africa has just experienced it’s worst drought in 30 years along with Zimbabwe. It finally came to an abrupt in SA end just now, with an utter deluge. Both events are very extreme and out of the ordinary. But hey, “we’ve had weather for billions of years”. Tell me more about how you don’t understand even the meaning of the words “climate change”.
@Marty G: If the world listens to people like you we’re all in trouble pal.
@Paraic: are you actually serious saying that droughts in southern africa are a new thing, while also pointing out that one happened only 30 years ago.. a quick google search will show you that droughts are happening in this region every couple of decades, and at one point every couple of years.. this hysteria is laughable, as is anyone from the dunning-kruger climate change brigade telling anyone else they don’t understand climate
@Football in the Groin: great comeback PAL love how the climate change brigade always resort this
@Marty G: Oh, you with your multiple troll accounts. Poor lad treats every every extreme weather event like it’s happened in isolation, in the hope that no one will have noticed Venice or the Australian bush fires or California or the Arctic or the European heatwaves all or the fact time global annual average surface temperature was the highest ever recorded this year. It must have been awful for you when you were a kid getting a puzzle book for Christmas and not being able to connect the dots.
@Paraic: multiple troll accounts and petty insults Haha talk about clutching at straws now. yes there have been no bushfires or heatwaves on the planet until now, good man
@Marty G: Marty my assumption is that climate change activists are going to not more than you about climate change – you with no climate credentials whatsoever.
What they wore to a protest is hardly relevant silly or otherwise. Have you seen how Ezra Miller dresses? He dressed like a Dalek for an award show. And I’m willing to bet he knows a Damn sight more about acting that you do.
Point – silliness and of clothing has no correlation with level of knowledge.
Conclusion – you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.
@Shazam37: usual nonsense comment from the climate change brigade. show me what i have said that is wrong. just saying im wrong means nothing
How environmentally friendly is super glue.
The bus should have driven off.
@Michael MC Evoy: I was thinking the same, they glued their hands to the front of the bus so put it in reverse and…
Id like to say no horses where harmed making this protest, but maybe they have some eco/animal friendly glue i haven’t heard of.
They are not bees, they drones…
Boris was inside driving a jcb through a styrofoam wall .. he doesn’t care lads.
From climate emergency to Accident and Emergency…
It one time I hope Jose Mourinho is driving and the parks the bus n leaves lol
glue comes from a glue factory. Glue is made from horses. These men have glue for brains. WHAT do they want the government to do? raise taxes like here in ireland? we’re already complaining about the carbon tax. As soon as the government does something, everyone straightaway is like: ‘thats not the answer’. WTF is? why dont these morons get together in their hives and actually try and think of something themselves? The world governments arent actual climate change specialists, you know. So should they just ban farming, fuel consumption, travel, factory emissions..nothing is realistic
@Pauline Gallagher: oh my. I’d actually say they have plenty of ideas …. but guess who has the authority to put ideas into action, I’ll give you a hint its not the climate specialist … you guessed it, the government. Maybe that’s why they want to get their attention.
Idiots.
@Charlie: agreed. The Tories have failed completely.
Buzz off.
We all know the Bog B IS Borris
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