Chamber Insider Blog

The Near Future of Drones in Loudoun and Beyond

Written by Vanessa Wagner, Loudoun County Economic Development
To see other articles by Vanessa, click here

Loudoun County is working to establish itself as an early adopter in the unmanned aerial systems space by attracting companies that manufacture, operate and support drones. Although the industry focus is new for many jurisdictions, Loudoun has already had almost a dozen drone-related startups move to or start here in this county, due to our close ties to the Virginia FAA test sites, high-tech workforce and local manufacturing relationships.

It’s important to understand that the technology used to power drones and their platforms is device-agnostic. As you read more about this emerging field, be prepared to see unmanned systems integrating with, or being leveraged by, other emerging technologies such as beacons, IoT, mesh networks or artificial intelligence.

In Loudoun County, ANRA technologies is charting a path in understanding the opportunity that artificial intelligence has to enhance the drone functionality. ANRA provides a “platform-independent” solution for drone businesses to help command and control, manage fleets, plan routes, and store and use data.

ANRA founder and CEO Amit Ganjoo was recently featured on dronelife for his experience and views on the important impact that AI will have on his industry. “With the evolution in AI, we can remove this redundancy, improve safety of the ground crew and make drone inspections more efficient. Platforms like ANRA’s DroneOSS platform can address this gap by aiding the drone operators in mission as well as data management,” he wrote.

The article by Ganjoo gives examples of data automation, traffic management, and safety gained by integrating artificial intelligence into drone operations.

The Loudoun County Tech Coalition doesn’t want to let these new businesses fly under the radar, nor the opportunity that they present to our existing business community. Sign up for the Loudoun Tech Coalition’s next event, “Scaling Up in Loudoun” on November 14. This event will give you the chance to network with early stage tech firms in Loudoun and learn what solutions they’re looking for on their path to growth. Register today!

 

At Loudoun Economic Development, your business is our business. We want to make sure Loudoun companies are successful, and if your company isn’t in Loudoun already, we’d like to discuss how moving here can contribute to your success. Start by calling us today 1-(800)-LOUDOUN.

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