Seeking a Drone Strategy

　For the first time in four years I visited the Sagrada Família. The church was under construction, just as it was four years ago. A Barcelona resident informed me that it would be completed in another 10 years. It seems that drones are being used to survey for the construction. Drones, please make yourselves useful.

　Prior to that, I participated in the Japan Drone Nationals held by TBS. Drone racing has become a new sport. I want to promote it as a superhuman sport for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The essence of drones is their fun side, not their usefulness.

　However, in December of 2015, the Aviation Law was revised, and restrictions were imposed on drones of 200 g or more.

　Drones are a form of IT that use radio waves. Generally speaking, they are composed of 3 points. 1. Device = terminal, 2. Network, 3. Service. I believe the economic potential is greater in the latter points.

　First, the device. China’s DJI, which introduced the Phantom in 2012, has 70% of the market share. On the other hand, for industrial purposes American-made drones are the best. When it comes to parts such as cameras, sensors, and batteries, Japanese-made products are popular. The situation is similar to that of smartphone terminals.

　As generalization and popularization continue to progress, we can expect to see drones become smaller and more precise, and toy versions to be made. At this year’s Tokyo Toy Show, drones claimed all of the 3 grand prizes. I have high expectations for Japanese manufacturers to shine.

　As IT, the network is more important. Currently I am using amateur wireless radio waves, but it is expected that 5G will be available after 2020.

　Japan has led the world in the development of 3G and 4G infrastructure for mobile phones, but it never showed a competitive edge. Why not take the lead with 5G infrastructure development, and demonstrate the competitive advantage of drones?

　NTT DoCoMo is starting a demonstration experiment of drones using the cellular phone network. Conventional drones could only fly a few hundred meters, but soon they will be able to fly for more than 2 km. They will be used for crop dusting and farmland management.

　To do this, reform of the Radio Law is required. What the government should do is deregulation that paves the way for this. While waiting for the results of the demonstration, we will fall behind.

　I’m interested in what’s going on in the US. NASA is cooperating with telecommunications companies such as Verizon to develop UTM for a drone air traffic control system. It will be a cloud system that controls traffic unmanned.

　This system uses mobile phone base stations to connect with tens of thousands of drones at the same time, and is expected to be operated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA.) This is a national strategy of holding an operating system.

I haven’t heard any talk about JAXA cooperating with DoCoMo or au to make a system that will be operated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It seems as though Japan is lagging behind. The platform will be seized, provoking a feeling of déjà vu. Before regulatory theory, let's work on strategic theory.

　The most important thing is service. Shooting from a high position, crop dusting, security, surveying, infrastructure inspections, disaster investigation, and cargo transportation. The range of potential uses is vast. Industry and culture will determine how this will spread.

　I want the Japanese government to deregulate drone use ahead of the rest of the world, and to make it into a developed country that uses drones. And I ask that the government itself make thorough use of drones in advance of public works and disaster prevention, etc.