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We may have to wait until later this year before India becomes the most populous country in the world. But India has overtaken China as the world’s most dynamic developing economy.
It beats China’s weak GDP – which grew 3% last year yearcompared to 8.7% in India to grow.
It stretches farther than the historical trends that marked this transition—seldom has more than one major economy experienced rapid industrialization, from Britain to the United States to Japan, then China, and today India.
And, while China’s geopolitics is causing companies to find alternative markets faster than they would otherwise—it’s a change in time, not trajectory.
The clearest sign that India is now the best developing country to do business in is the companies that come here to do business.
The latest example is dragonfly – One of the world’s most advanced manufacturers of civilian drones.
You see, the best way to tell if a developing economy is taking off is when it starts acquiring cutting-edge technologies — and implementing them broadly. And faster than in mature economies.
What it essentially boils down to is…it’s easier to install new infrastructure using the latest technology than it is to upgrade existing infrastructure.
It happened when America electrified its cities at the turn of the last century—and later built car-centric avenues, not bullock carts).
It happened when China connected its cities with maglev trains.
Today, it’s happening in India in ways big and small — including the all-important Draganfly drone technology.
You might think drones are not an infrastructure technology. At the high end, they constitute useful military battlefield technology. On the low end, they make fun toys.
But that’s because you don’t see the drone technology that Draganfly has perfected recently.
Today, the Dragonfly drone…
- Used by city emergency departments. Drones can get to the scene faster while carrying emergency medical equipment. In the event of false positives (approximately 20% of all emergency calls), the Draganfly drone can save first responders valuable time by figuring out which calls really need help before help arrives.
- Assist fire and emergency services in the U.S. Forest. Draganfly drones can explore more land for signs of fire… and can spot potential hotspots faster than visual inspections can. Thanks to thermal imaging, they can deliver medical equipment to people trapped by fire, making them inaccessible…and firefighting equipment to the front lines. Over rough terrain and conditions, drones can deliver the required equipment within 15 minutes, compared to the more than three hours it would take traditionally.
- Helping on the Ukrainian battlefield. Medical drones are an obvious benefit — they can bring anything from small first aid supplies to blood and plasma in temperature-controlled compartments to hot areas. Drones can also help with any search-and-rescue missions — especially in unstable areas that have suffered recent devastation, or that are inaccessible due to the shape of the surrounding fighting.
- They also help outside the battlefield. Using advanced sensors such as radar, lidar, infrared and thermal imaging, Draganfly drones can scan fields for landmines and unexploded ordnance. They can do this quickly—scanning 100 acres in one flight—and safely without anyone risking their lives.
- Draganfly drones can even use these same sensors to help farmers – telling them which crops need water and which don’t, which show pest infestation, which can easily grow without pesticides, etc.
All of these features are at the cutting edge of drone technology.
However, it’s not the sensors, the climate control cabin, the ability to lift heavy objects, or the ability to operate beyond visual range that really sets the Draganfly drone apart from other types of drones.
What really makes Draganfly drones the best in class is the software and artificial intelligence that Draganfly has developed that allows these drones to take sensor input and quickly figure out what military mines are… which crops are being destroyed… which heat signatures are collapsing Buildings are humans…and hundreds of other tricks that make these drones a real game changer.
In fact, these drones are the future of cities and farms.
However, so far they have only been used in small test projects to demonstrate their capabilities.
In another ten years, they will be common.
But this expansion has only just begun. One of the places it will start is India.
Effective January 31st, Draganfly has entered into a partnership with India’s Remote Sensing Instruments to develop better software…to launch these high-tech drones faster…and to manufacture Draganfly drones in India.
That’s the kind of deal you’d expect from a cutting-edge technology company when it enters a fast-growing, dynamic economy.
This allowed Draganfly to gain early access to what will soon be the most populous country in the world. Their CEO reckons this could easily translate to a 100x increase.
India, meanwhile, will tap into one of the most important tech sectors of the next decade…while creating manufacturing jobs and skills…and poised to build state-of-the-art infrastructure in cities and farmland across the country.
Draganfly’s arrival in India is significant on a practical level.
This is an even more important data point, showing that India is the most dynamic growth economy in the world today.
