Flying High, a Huge Study of the UK Drones Industry with Glass.AI data.

This week has seen the launch of a huge study from Nesta, in partnership with Innovate UK, mapping the UK Drones industry with Glass data. The 225-page report explores how the UK can become a world leader in drone technology. It also outlines some of the challenges facing urban implementations and makes some policy recommendations.

How did Glass help?

We were introduced to the team at the Nesta Challenge Prize Centre. They needed help trying to identify companies already operating in the drones sector and UK universities with research strengths in the area. Glass has mapped the entire UK economy based on its web presence, so using the product (currently in private Beta) we were able to quickly find 700+ relevant organisations in the UK. You can see the results in this excellent interactive map.

Usually to produce this type of research, data scientists and market analysts have to spend time on Google or rely on official data. They may also have to pay substantial amounts of money in database subscriptions or to buy reports. With Glass, it was possible to map and gather knowledge about the UK drones ecosystem in a few minutes. It didn’t take days or weeks to complete.

We believe that the web, the largest source of knowledge ever created, can provide a lot of insights into markets, emerging themes, economic activity and society. This report is another example of what’s possible with open web data and the product we are building. Stay tuned, we are just getting started!