The early technology adopter gets the ROI

By Bill Rogers, Co-Founder and CEO

Disruption.

It’s a phrase that gets a lot of play these days. The term is typically used to describe businesses that are shaking up established industries. In the consumer world, when we hear “disruptor,” we envision the likes of Uber and Airbnb.

But in a larger sense, it’s starting to feel like we’re living in an age of disruption. Disruption has become the norm in business, in the environment, in politics, in… almost everything.

As creatures of habit, humans don’t always adapt to such dramatic changes so quickly. This has never been so evident than in today’s technology landscape.

While I won’t address social and cultural disruption here, I would like to take the opportunity to opine how Skytec views disruption in the unmanned space.

Remember “What is Internet?”

For a 2015 Super Bowl ad, BMW revived the 1994 TODAY Show clip of Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel clumsily discussing the Internet.

It’s a funny segment, including a discussion of what to call the “@” character. Bryant described it as, “...the A and then ring around it...Katie said she thought it was ‘about.’” Then he asked his memorable question, “what is Internet, anyway?”

It was a perfect example of how humans usually process new disruptive technology.

Of course, we all understand and appreciate “what is Internet” now, but not everyone was on board at first. Famed economist Paul Krugman made what is likely the most well-documented Internet miscalculation when he hypothesized its impact on the world economy would be “no greater than the fax machine’s.”

While it’s easy to snicker at Krugman’s take, his spirit represents how most of us react to new things.

There are many factors that take a nascent development like the Internet and propel it to mass acceptance. One of those variables is a technology’s widespread usability — people being able to take that innovation and incorporate it to solve their own needs.

That’s precisely what we’re doing with unmanned systems and remote sensing.

Taking our early adopter status to the masses

Unmanned systems represent disruption to the fullest, and they will radically change the way we understand the world around us, how we interact with our environment and how we collect and process data.

At Skytec, we’re in the business of innovation. The UAS, GIS, and remote sensing worlds are rapidly changing, each day, delivering new and helpful developments for a growing community of professionals and industries.

As that happens, more and more people will begin incorporating this versatile new tool into their professional workdays. The technology is proven to help streamline their processes and maximize efficiencies. The genie is not going back into the bottle, friends, and we pledge to help new partners understand how this disruption can better their professional responsibilities.

Legacy knowledge + technology disruption = ROI

We do not believe UAS technology will render traditional professions, such as surveyors, line operators, or inspectors, and their knowledge-bases obsolete. While we fully embrace and celebrate new technologies for the positive benefits they deliver, we know they are greatly empowered by the insights and expertise owned by traditional practitioners.

It’s this tethering of old and new that gets us excited at Skytec. Though we’re committed to staying ahead of the curve with disruptive technology, we’re just as committed to drawing from the know-how and wisdom of those who’ve been hard at work, paving the way, for years.

That combination is what enables us to navigate this emerging and ever-shifting terrain on behalf of our clients. It is that combination that will ensure our early adopter position will help us remain industry leaders, delivering healthy returns on investment for those we work with.

If this sounds like an approach you’d like your UAS partner to have, we’d love to hear from you at skytecllc.com/contact.