In our previous blog post, “Forget about sci-fi. Flying taxis are just around the corner!”, we discussed the role of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly referred to as drones, highlighting their range of uses in various sectors – from assisting medical deliveries and emergency interventions to firefighting and intra-city travel – and what value this creates on the social level.
Given that the non-sci-fi scenario of drone-filled skies may be more imminent than we think, at Future Needs we are conducting ongoing research on various aspects regarding the social acceptance of drones (see more in our projects ImAFUSA, RefMap, BURDI).
As part of our research, we decided to conduct a small-scale, informal, qualitative survey to explore the Athenian public’s perceptions of drones. While our partners from the municipality of Egaleo and TUDelft were flying a drone in the park, we were on-the-ground asking ordinary people passing by to tell us what they think about the use of drones in cities.
We tried to understand whether people fully grasp the benefits of these innovative airborne “visitors”, or merely perceive them as tools for capturing wedding footage and tourist snapshots. We wanted to find out what people are more concerned about when it comes to drones: noise generated, their privacy, or does the safety aspect prevail?
Disclaimer: This was not a social study, rather scientific journalism for dissemination purposes. Therefore, while the individual opinions we refer to in this article may not encapsulate the entirety of society, they offer an initial perspective and may provide compelling insights for further research.
Continue reading to find out how ordinary Athenians feel about drones, what concerns they have.
“We did it ‘wrong’ with cars, we did it ‘wrong’ with planes, let’s do it ‘right’ with drones“,
Anna Palaiologk, Head of Research at Future Needs
The legal and ethical challenges of drones
From our conversations with people on the day, one theme kept popping up: privacy and personal data, in other words “who is going to use the drone and what for?”
Eleni, a student at the National Polytechnic University of Athens (NTUA) commented: “What kind of legislation will be used to determine the flying areas and the purpose of flying?”
Adonis, a resident and employee of the Municipality of Egaleo added, “I am not aware of the existing legal framework. This is the biggest issue for me: the legislation for their use… I am negative if a drone carries cameras and records our moves. Since it is new, it needs attention; who will use it, and why? There should be a complete legal framework and people should be informed and consent first.”
Giorgos, another NTUA student, was concerned about privacy issues related to drones. He stated: “There are privacy issues. Even though we all carry devices that constantly track our positions, like mobile phones, many will consider that a drone flying above them is not only to carry an object or help fire-fighting but to monitor them with a camera as it is already done in many countries with malicious intent.”
Other participants put the safety aspect first, overlooking any other issues. For example, Stella, an Egaleo resident and mum of two, commented: “I am very positive. I don’t care about privacy issues at all, if you don’t have anything to hide, you’re ok and you should not be adverse to them. Since security issues are also covered – as drones know where you are each time and can help you in an emergency – even better!”
Are drones too noisy for urban areas?
The test flights of the project took place in Athens – one of Europe’s busiest (and noisiest) cities, but, as odd as it may sound, when asked if they are bothered by drone noise, despite being used to very high levels of daily noise pollution, the responses we got from the public were varied.
Eleni told us that “In Athens, there is already a lot of noise from cars…on the other hand, if there is a way to make drones quieter, I would see them in a more positive light.”
On the contrary, Adonis stated that even when flying on top of a busy Athenian street, a drone’s noise can still be heard: “I am particularly concerned about the noise because we already have noise pollution in our city…imagine that we are now next to a main road and I can still hear it [the drone].”
Drones are not just for wedding videos!
The general sentiment among the people we interviewed was that society is not aware of the potential of drones and still mostly perceives them as mini cameras flying above us.
Giorgos made an interesting observation when he told us: “The truth is that because drones have only been around for the last 15 years, the younger generations know they exist, but I am not sure how many are aware of their extensive use. Older generations, due to their lack of knowledge of technological subjects, are not aware of their applications, so they may think they’re mainly for making videos (as many youngsters believe also)… among the younger ones, those who engage more with drones, will learn all their applications, whereas those who don’t engage, will continue to think it’s just for making videos.”
Giannis, an employee of the Egaleo Municipality, suggested the need for an awareness campaign. He added, “As a Municipality, we have run the “First Respond” project, where we showed how the first action of a drone should be organised in an emergency case, how it can arrange the intervention of the rescuers, the means of rescue, etc., and we promoted it through social media.”
Giorgos agreed and added that when something bad happens citizens understand how a drone can be beneficial to society. He noted “For example, in the case of a fire, where people watch on the news that a drone identifies fire and signals the fire brigade, they realise that drones can act preemptively and may change their mind about them. There must be an action, a campaign to inform society and not wait for the bad thing to happen to convince them.”
How do Municipalities leverage the use of drones?
Drones have multiple uses and can be especially helpful for municipalities, the police, and the fire department. As a municipality employee, Vasilis told us: “At the Municipality, and city level, they give us useful information about the situation of our city. In case of emergency, we fly the drone and see what happens. It facilitates our needs as a Municipality. Until now, we have digitised the area of the Municipality (mapping), and in an emergency, a fire, or an accident, the Municipal Police can use a drone. This has probably not been done yet, but the Municipality has the infrastructure for it. Perhaps drones can also transport objects in emergencies, fires, floods, etc.”
The safety factor in a multi-drone setting
Various concerns arise when envisioning a future multi-drone setting, with the most prominent one being safety. According to Vasilis, the main issue is the potential ignorance of users as he argues “everyone would like to fly one for their needs, and they may not know how.” He also expressed concerns about the safety of drones, like battery failure or handling errors, and suggested that “there should be proper education, legislation, etc.”
Giannis focused on air traffic trajectories and the issue of deconfliction of the urban drone airspace, “…if one drone hits another, the matter of control, whether one drone will be able to ‘see’ the other, as is done with aeroplanes.”
Giorgos questioned the capacity of a drone to adapt to weather changes, saying that “they can be useful but if not used properly, drones can become dangerous. …a drone should withstand sudden weather changes because as we see here today, it is sunny in the morning and then raining. If the drone can’t withstand rain or strong winds, it may fall and hit someone.”
Positive but sceptical
What primary conclusions can be drawn from the above interviews? Generally, people are positive about this new technology; they already know or believe drones have the potential to make our lives better. On the other hand, people are quite sceptical when it comes to drone regulation, drone handlers’ know-how, the dangers of a multi-drone urban air scenery, and personal data violation. Finally, most of the people we spoke to agreed that society has to learn more about drones and become better acquainted with flying vehicles and their usage.
How to achieve widespread social acceptance of drones
How do we start fostering more wide-spread acceptance of drones? This is where the local authorities and bodies come in!
Universities, specialised consultants on transport economics & U Space like the Future Needs team, national/local governments, and the European Union, have to pave the way to wider social acceptance of drones, including with projects and initiatives like the ones we have participated as a partner: ImAFUSA, SAFIR-Med, RefMap, BURDI and UAMschool4cities.
Achieving widespread social acceptance of drones requires addressing several challenges, including safety and privacy concerns, noise pollution, economic barriers, and lack of education and training. To enhance the social acceptance of drones, stakeholders must:
- Invest in research and development to design quieter drone technologies, focusing on noise reduction without compromising performance.
- Develop frameworks for managing data collected by drones, ensuring compliance with privacy laws and ethical standards.
- Collaborate with schools, community organisations, and local governments to integrate drone education into curricula and community outreach initiatives.
- Contribute further to the improvement and the implementation of the U-space legislation by 2030, as envisioned by the Drone Strategy 2.0 of the European Commission and announced in April 2021.
Future Needs is especially interested in the urban air mobility sector and the potential use of drones for good causes, such as firefighting and medical deliveries. Our team of experts works on drone-related European projects, representing Cyprus, where the drone business is experiencing an upturn. Specifically, Future Needs has been involved and continues working on major Horizon and SESAR JU European projects related to drones in European cities, their optimal use in cases like medical deliveries and the social acceptance of their implementation.
