By Robert Gordon
Program Director, Reverse Logistics Management at American Public University
In July 2015, the first drone delivery took place in the United States. This joint effort between NASA, the University of Virginia, and an Australian drone manufacturing company made a delivery of pharmaceuticals to a free clinic in Virginia. This historic delivery marks the beginning of a world filled with the conveniences that drones will bring.
As great as this advancement with drones is, the United States is well behind many other industrialized nations. In fact, Switzerland has already started using drones for mail delivery. The U.S. Postal Service is seriously considering using drones, but nothing has been decided yet.
I personally expect that we will start receiving deliveries by drones in the next couple of years. This will not come without societal concerns. Delivery by drone will improve our quality of life and revolutionize the transportation industry. In fact, a projection calls for drone technology to be a potential $13.6 billion industry in the next three years, with growth to $82.1 billion by 2025. Furthermore, the estimate for the growth in this industry represents around 103,000 skilled U.S. jobs.
[Related: Thousands of Jobs Open in Reverse Logistics]
Despite concerns of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), people want items delivered by drones. The potential for even faster service is enticing. Further, social media users want to have a drone to take videos and pictures of their lives. A drone lets you live in the moment and get great images for social media—like having a personal paparazzi.
Ultimately, drones will change our lives. The drone revolution will come and it will come soon.
About the Author: Dr. Robert Lee Gordon is the program director for the Reverse Logistics Management department at American Public University. Dr. Gordon has more than 25 years of professional experience in supply chain management and human resources. Dr. Gordon earned his Doctorate of Management and Organizational Leadership and his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix as well earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from UCLA.
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