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Social innovation: The case of drone technology (DRAFT)

Presented by Louis LévesqueDeputy Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

May 7, 2015

Annex C

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Social Innovation: engaging Canadians to stimulate innovation and create positive social outcomes

Definition: “Drones”

Drones: economic and social applications

Drones: New technology with promising applications

Drones: Potential significant economic opportunities….

Drones: An economic opportunity to also access and contribute to development of innovation and peripheral technologies

Canadian technology suppliers are paving the way…

Economic and social benefits from drones will depend on our capacity to overcome several challenges

Social innovation provides a cross-functional platform

Spectrum of potential government/institutional action

Moving forward with social innovation: Adding to the public sector’s existing toolbox to deal with urban congestion

Outline

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Social innovation: engaging Canadians to stimulate innovation and create positive social outcomes

Today’s challenges are getting more complex and are increasingly requiring multi-stakeholder collaboration and partnerships

Governments are facing budgetary constraints

Citizens’ expectations and ability to engage on issues continues to increase

Increasing pace of technological innovation creates new opportunities and challenges.

 

Definition

Social innovation is about finding more effective ways of engaging Canadians, delivering community services and strengthening communities as a whole through research. It can take the form of a product, process or program that creates positive social outcomes for communities.

Source: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=906839

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Definition “Drone”:

an aircraft without an on-board pilot, or unmanned aircraft. In effect, the term

“drone” is a catch-all term that refers to any vehicle that can operate on

surfaces or in the air without a person on board to control it; and that can

vary in size, shape, form, speed, and a whole host of

other attributes.

Source: Office of Privacy Commissioner of Canada, “Drones in Canada: Will the proliferation of domestic drone use in Canada raise new concerns for privacy?”, March 2013.

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Drones: economic and social applications

Drones: New technology with promising applications

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Variety of types• Hobby aircraft;• Remotely piloted aircraft; and,• Fully autonomous drones.

Variety of applications – security, economic and societal :• Military, safety and security

• Defense and military applications; Disaster management (e.g., response and recovery); Search and rescue; Safety (e.g., pipeline monitoring

• Economic/Social applications• Transport (e.g., freight and infrastructure inspection);• Health care (e.g., emergency services);• Environment (e.g., weather monitoring, tailings monitoring); Resource exploration

(e.g., geophysical surveys); Agriculture and forestry(e.g., crop monitoring);• Telecommunications;

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Drones: Potential significant economic opportunities…. Emerging technologies with potential high economic benefits….

• Global unmanned aircraft system (UAS) market is expected to almost double over the next 10 years to over USD $91 bil l ion, largely driven by expanding civilian use (Teal Group) .

• According to their 2014 market study, the current world wide spending on drones is $6.5 billion per year and is estimated to nearly double to $11.5 billion over the next ten years.

• Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International forecasts that drones and the companies that support them could generate $13.7 bil l ion worth of economic activity in the U.S. and create 70,000 new jobs, by 2016.

Raising needs for new requirements – e.g. insurance

• Zurich Canada launched a new drone insurance product for a range of industries to take advance of the risk mitigation and cost savings opportunities available through the use of UAS or “drones”, in April 2015.

Poised to transform transportat ion sector and lead to new comparative advantage – e.g., addressing last-mile challenges, energy efficiency, environmental footprint and congestion

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Drones: An economic opportunity to also access and contribute to development of innovation and peripheral technologies

Drones are a technology platform. The scope of their applications could drive innovation through smart partnerships between drone makers and technology giants, e.g.,• Sense-and-avoid software which could be also be used at rail crossings;• New battery technologies;• Motion planning software which could also be used in transportation logistics; and,• Camera and sensor technologies for traffic monitoring.

Other countries are looking to capture their share of the global market and the competit ion is intensifying with countries such as China, Russia, Australia and Brazil seeking commercial and military applications and supporting research and development efforts, e.g.,• As of early 2014, there were an estimated 490 unmanned air vehicle manufacturers

based in about 60 countries.

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Canadian technology suppliers are paving the way…

Early movers are looking to seize their share of growing market opportunities:• Cenovus Energy Inc. is using drones for mapping its projects site

• Other energy companies are exploring using drones to patrol pipelines, assess tai l ings ponds and for various geophysical surveys.

• In the U.S., drones from Ontario-based Aeryon Labs Inc. are used for f lare-stack inspections at refineries.

• Vancouver-based AerialX Drone Solutions Inc. is using the technology to monitor a multitude of crop-health stat ist ics, including water and pesticide effectiveness.

• Mist Mobility Integrated Systems Technology Inc. is adapting its military UAV cargo technologies for potential use in Canada’s Arct ic.

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Economic and social benefits from drones will depend on our capacity to overcome several challenges

Legislative and regulatory frameworks• Some countries have adopted legislation for simple operations by light drones (e.g.

Canada and Australia) and others have put in place case-by-case authorization process (e.g. United States).

Public safety• Considerations such as loss of communication, flight at extreme altitudes, and

capacity to stay airborne are examples of challenges that need to be addressed.

Privacy• Strong argument that UAVs may be a surveillance game-changer in three general

areas: their attributes, payload technologies, and the manner in which they collect personal information.

Public acceptance• Public knowledge and acceptance are crucial, as lack of understanding can

undermine the technology deployment.• Transport Canada has launched the safety awareness campaign for drones. The first phase

of the campaign provides the public with new safety guidelines and an easy to follow infographic that clarifies when to apply for Transport Canada permission to fly their drones.

Social innovation provides a cross-functional platform

Social Innovation

Social innovation requires a variety of actors working in concert• Government• Academia• Private sector• Non-profit sector• Communities• Institutions• Public

Each has a role to play in enabling and supporting social innovation

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Spectrum of potential government/institutional action

Government has traditionally exercised a regulatory role

Jurisdictions are increasingly considering other potential dimensions, such as that of a: Catalyst Knowledge broker Facilitator Convener

Regulate PartnerEnable Endorse

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Moving forward with social innovation: Adding to the public sector’s existing toolbox to deal with urban congestion

Regulate PartnerEnable Endorse

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Proposed discussion questions

What should be the role of government/academic/civil society in supporting social innovation?

What are the impacts of or on informal institutions when regulative or coercive power is used to effect social innovation?

How can all social actors work together to support social innovation?

What alternative institutional arrangements are emerging in response to the social problems, such as the sharing economy, user networks and community‐based and cooperative models?

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Annex

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Uber: opportunities…

Uber is an American international company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It develops, markets and operates the mobile-app-based transportation network also called Uber.

The Uber app allows consumers to submit a trip request, which is routed to crowd-sourced taxi drivers.

Drivers that use Uber either own the cars themselves or operate as a part of a taxi or limousine service and simply use the app for additional income during breaks in their schedules.

Passengers benefit from the simplicity involved in the app’s use.

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One of Uber’s most impressive features is its ability to grow:• In mid-2013, Uber operated in 36 cities• Currently its service is available in 57 countries and more than 280

cities worldwide. Uber reduces consumers’ incentives to purchase automobiles, contributing

to cost reduction for transportation and reducing environmental footprint.

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but there are challenges as well…

Legislative and regulatory frameworks• Uber is competing with taxi drivers by entering their market without following

regulations or fare schedules

Public safety• Uber drivers are consulting Uber’s app while operating the vehicle.

Privacy• Uber’s use of rider data has also sparked concern.

Discrimination• Discrimination seems to be a risk of Uber’s rider-feedback model, which requires

drivers to maintain a minimum score or be kicked off the service. • Passengers may give bad reviews to racial-minority drivers, whether out of implicit or

explicit bias. Drivers in turn may be less likely to pick up riders if they learn that they are racial minorities.