Skyward is flying businesses into the future.

When you hear the word “drone,” you might not have many positive associations with it. But Skyward is going to change that. Skyward is helping companies — including Verizon — put drones to work.

Businesses across all kinds of industries are using drone technology to access better data more often and accomplish a wide range of tasks. From construction and engineering, to media, public safety, and disaster recovery, drones are transforming the future for the better. And Skyward is enabling businesses to use drones, understand regulations, and improve how they get the job done every day. You might recall that we featured them in a recent Up To Speed.

Advanced intelligence in the air.

Skyward provides a cloud-based drone operations management platform, as well as flight crew training and standard operating procedures, to help companies get out of the office and into the air.

In October 2019, Skyward introduced advanced airspace technology for drone pilots to its software platform. By combining airspace data with essential ground intelligence in one sleek and easy-to-use design, the new tech provides pilots with a better and safer way to fly. Skyward’s map gives pilots 3D views of key structures like transmission lines, and more than a million other vertical obstacles.

“Showing airspace is important, but it’s only part of the picture,” says Skyward President, Mariah Scott. “The more intelligence that is available to understand how an area will affect the flight, the less risk a pilot has in the field.”

Helping to save lives and restore service.

According to a recent public safety report, drones have helped save the lives of at least 133 people around the world in various search and rescue missions. Response teams have to navigate vast and challenging terrain to save lives. Drones can fly into areas that are dangerous or inaccessible, and give rescue workers a needed visual reference.

After the damage caused by Hurricane Maria, a company who works with Skyward used drones to aid in restoring power to Puerto Rico. The drones pulled over 72,000 feet of rope for conductor wire, enabling technicians to repair the lines in a fraction of the time of traditional methods and bring power back to parts of the island.

Better for business. Better for the planet.

Drones are helping businesses improve their ecological footprint as well. When an engineering firm was working on high-voltage transmission lines in the Arizona desert, they needed to be incredibly careful of their surroundings. They were working in a protected wildlife area where the saguaro cactus grows. Engineers used Skyward to carefully plan drone flights that allowed them to survey the area without doing any damage to the cacti or other local wildlife.

Skyward offers solutions for companies that used to depend on helicopters. Enabling companies to use drone technology makes them less dependent on helicopters that burn lots of fuel and present risks to flight crews. That means their businesses can have a smaller carbon footprint, and still get the job done.

A safer way to work.

Another way that Skyward is helping businesses improve is by allowing them to allocate some of the most dangerous work in the field to drones. For example, a drone can easily fly a power line up to the top of a 180 foot tower, while the pilot controls it safely from the ground.

“Drones are helping businesses save time, save money, and helping them keep employees out of danger,” says Mariah Scott.