Fintrade Newsletter: the Rise of Drones

Drones have become increasingly popular both in consumer and business use. Recent growth has created new business opportunities but also new risks.

Fintrade Mercer has a mission to be in the swim of new technologies. Great business potential is seen in drones as Asia Pacific is estimated to gain substantial growth. The growth is fueled by rapid increase in interest for civilian drone applications and loosening government regulations for the commercial use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

Furthermore, the presence of substantial number of drone manufacturers in the region, especially Chinese manufacturers such as DJI and Xiaomi, drives the growth of commercial UAV market. The market is also aided by adoption of drones by customers and enterprises in various fields such as agriculture, retail, security, cinematography, energy, and construction.

The Second Drone World Congress was held at the end of June 2018 in Shenzhen organized together with Shenzhen International UAV Expo. It is already one of the leading events in the industry worldwide. Fintrade’s Jari Vepsäläinen was invited by World UAV Federation (WUAVF) to give a speech about novel innovations in cyber security and encryption.

The reaction to the speech was eminently positive and gave a cause to further develop contacts with many participants and experts in the industry. Together with selected partners, Fintrade Mercer aims to actively pursue drone business potential.

Indeed, in June 2019 Fintrade together with Finnish drone and cyber security companies will participate the Drone World Congress again.

Fintrade invites Finnish cybersecurity and drone companies to join Business Mission in Hong Kong and Shenzhen on June 18-22, 2019.

Security Concerns

One of the hot topics in the drone industry is cyber security. Many of the drones used for various important and sometimes critical tasks today are originally meant for consumer purposes. Due to this background, drones have not been designed with a strong emphasis on information security. As their use for not only civilian and commercial tasks, but also governmental, rises, so does the security risks they pose to the users. The drone industry now has to develop and ensure high security features in order to become a truly wide-spread major industry.

Possible security issues include for example drone hacking, sharing of collected data without knowledge of the user, storing of data, and other privacy issues.

Fintrade is also exploring the drone information security field together with its Finnish partner IPRA Technologies Ltd, a software development company focused on encryption technologies. The purpose is to find opportunities to integrate and utilize the company’s encryption technologies also in the drone industry. In addition, Fintrade is working with a Finnish cyber security company Cyberwatch Finland in bringing cyber security and drone companies together.