Milton Keynes City Council has secured £1m in government funding to develop and deploy drones that could speed up the delivery of vital medicines, ease road congestion and reduce carbon emissions globally.
The City Council has said that it will work with Cranfield University’s Drone Innovation Hub and Satellite Applications Catapult Westcott DronePort to test and trial new drone-based services and autonomous vehicles.
The project will include smart traffic monitoring, secure parcel deliveries, remote building inspections and transfer of vital medical supplies as part of an emergency response.
“We’re proud to be hosting yet another trial to test future technologies in MK which will build on our reputation as a world leading smart city. The technologies have the potential to bring practical benefits to help people in everyday life and in time critical emergencies. If the trials are successful, it will also help us meet our climate action ambitions and create new jobs of the future for local people.” Leader of MK Council, Cllr Pete Marland
Drone technologies will provide real-time information sharing, which will see services work together and act faster when responding to incidents. Integrating ground and air-based services can also reduce carbon emissions.
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