New Orleans, Louisiana.  The inaugural Public Safety Drone Expo, produced by the Airborne Law Enforcement Association, was held at the New Orleans DoubleTree Hotel, October 16-19, 2017.  The Expo provided a platform to showcase the industry’s latest technology for law enforcement, fire and search and rescue and offered a combination of interactive public safety specific UAS courses, classes and general sessions.

Petauro Systems president, Drew Jurkofsky, was exited to attend the Expo and participated in two panel discussions: Lessons Learned from the Use of sUAS in Public Safety and Response to Incidents Involving sUAS.

The public safety drone industry is expanding at a rapid pace. A recent study identified at least 347 state and local police, sheriff, fire and emergency units across 43 states that have acquired drones, the majority in the last year, with local law enforcement leading the way. The FAA estimates that “the fleet of small hobbyists UAS will more than triple” by 20121, increasing from “1.1 million vehicles in 2016” to “3.5 million”. They also estimate that commercial UAS operators will also increase, growing from 42,000 in 2016 to 442,000 in 2021.

Many businesses, large and small, have a huge source of great ideas that can help them improve, innovate, and grow, and yet so many of these companies never think of using this amazing corporate asset. What is this highly valuable asset? Its own people. Says Morgan Fraud, the author of The Thinking Corporation, “Given that we are all capable of contributing new ideas, the question becomes how do you successfully generate, capture, process and implement ideas?” Becoming an organization capable of answering this question can benefit in a number of ways: