Jeff Bezos says Amazon hopes to send delivery drones into the air in four or five years. But another large organization will likely get there a whole lot sooner.
Officials in Dubai say the city is experimenting with drones to deliver government documents to citizens. Unveiled this week, the program is the first phase of what officials hope will lead to widespread government use of unmanned aircraft across the United Arab Emirates by next year.
“What these things are best suited for is delivery of small, light value things that are time sensitive, like medicines, identification documents, vital papers and things of that nature,” said Noah Raford, an adviser to UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, according to The National. The drones would supposedly use retina scans and fingerprints to identify intended recipients.
The project shows that Amazon’s plan to deliver packages by drones isn’t completely beyond the realm of possibility. But Dubai operations will be significantly simpler than what Amazon would have to tackle in order to replace good old-fashioned truck delivery.
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The UAE’s state news agency, Wam, reports that the prime minister himself, who is also the billionaire hereditary ruler of Dubai, attended a drone test flight. The plan is part of a broader effort by the UAE, and Dubai in particular, to brand itself as a business-friendly innovation hub in the Middle East. As part of the drone plan, the UAE is offering a $1 million prize for the best use of drones for public services.
In tech branding, delivery drones are a great place to start. Amazon got a huge public relations boost when CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled the online retail giant’s own delivery drone prototype (and marketing video) on 60 Minutes late last year. Skepticism followed quickly on the heels of the hype, since U.S. regulations would prohibit what Amazon is proposing — and since drones don’t fit the logistical underpinnings of Amazon’s business anyway. If Dubai gets its drones airborne before Amazon, the city could claim to have beaten one of the world’s most admired technology companies to the skies.
Dubai has many advantages over Amazon in getting to drone deliveries first. As a monarchy, the emirate of Dubai is structured a lot like a business, with its ruler (Shiekh Mohammed’s official title) as CEO. Except he’s a CEO who gets to set the rules for doing business.
The UAE also benefits from a plan that is less ambitious than Amazon’s. The country is focusing on a small selection of items to deliver across a small geographical area. And citizens, unlike customers, don’t have other options if the service doesn’t end up working well.
Either way, the UAE’s effort doesn’t look great for Amazon. If it works, Amazon will have lost the race. If it doesn’t work, Amazon will be under more pressure to say why its drones will work out better. If they ever get off the ground.
Date: Feb 13, 2014