The Drone Delivery Group, which describes itself as "the UK’s largest group of more than 400 drone industry experts and leading authority on the technology", has called on the British government to "act now" on commercialisation or risk falling behind rival countries.
In a "landmark" paper called ‘A National Strategy for Drones across land, sea and air’, the group presented to the government a plan it said "could add billions to UK economy and create hundreds of thousands of jobs”.
"If the UK fails to act now, it risks falling behind nations like India, which recently announced plans to become a ‘Global Drone Hub’ by 2030", the group warned, calling for "a harmonised approach, across land, air and sea, uniting various sectors and branches of government".
Making drones more widespread could lead to a reduction of national carbon emissions due to hundreds of thousands of cars being taken off British roads, the group claimed.