InDro Robotics, a drone and robots research and development (R&D) firm that manufactures its own drones and land-based robots, has created this drone-managed services business model through a partnership with 5G router maker Cradlepoint. As a result, drones have become moving cameras and sensors within the Internet of Things (IoT) expansion. Sectors such as mining, agriculture, clean energy, emergency services, and logistics now benefit from 5G and drone-managed services.

InDro Robotics built six drone and unpiloted vehicle products. These provide business and public sector clients with managed services, technical, or pay-as-you-go support. By partnering with Cradlepoint, InDro Robotics has overcome one of the largest obstacles drones suffer—poor network coverage. This is particularly an issue for agriculture, mining, and remote communities.

InDro Robotics founded the partnerships to provide customers with both drone services and high-capacity 5G networking This allows the customer to focus on their business, not worry about connectivity, and benefit from access to drone technology. In addition, it ensures the latest generation of drones deliver a wide range of cost-saving and business-critical services—ranging from safety inspections to transportation of urgent medical supplies such as fire and rescue, cargo delivery, and data analytics.

In summary, the organization achieved the following benefits from its 5G networking partnership:

• Development and delivery of managed drone and robot services
• 5G-enabled drones that can better meet the needs of customers
• Pop-up 5G connectivity via mobile network stations that increase capacity for a task
• Reduction in backhaul and latency
• Ability to fly and provide drone services remotely—even from across the country
• Data collection and delivery to edge computing solutions

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Robotic Process Automation (RPA) enabled Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust (the Trust) in the UK to monitor and manage its critical oxygen tanks 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and to do it remotely.

Oxygen Bot, an RPA solution developed for the facilities management team, provided regular and accurate processing of oxygen storage at the hospital. The Trust demonstrated that RPA could reduce manual tasks and provide a safer and more efficient process for healthcare. Health service providers in the UK need solutions like this urgently because the country has the highest COVID-19 death rate in Europe.

In summary, the organization achieved the following benefits from its RPA deployment:

• Health and safety improvement through automatic measurement of storage tanks
• Accurate data collection
• Reduction in process steps
• Greater integration between facilities, IT, and clinical teams

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Established in 1853 and headquartered in Skipton, northern England, the lender is one of the largest building societies in the UK, with more than 1 million customers. Through a nationwide branch network and online platforms, it offers a range of financial products and services, including savings, mortgages, and insurance.

Skipton Building Society is a mutual business—its members and customers own the company in a cooperative business model. To grow, Skipton Building Society needed to do more by reducing costs and not decreasing its staff headcount. Foster led an analysis of the building society’s operations, looking for areas that could benefit from efficiency gains and therefore free up the 2,000 staff to focus on customers and valuable tasks, allowing the organization to expand.

In summary, the organization achieved the following benefits from its RPA deployment:

• 1,300 hours saved per year across a single process, which Skipton expects to increase by 10 times as more methods are automated.
• Faster customer response times and shorter mortgage lead times.
• Existing subject matter experts (SMEs) can now support more complex work and upskill themselves.
• Data processing accuracy of 89%.

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The organization is developing all-electric aircraft with vertical take off and landing (e-VTOL) capability, which requires no runway. That makes this type of aircraft ideal for short-haul taxi services. Founded in 2016, the business has grown to 200 employees and secured important business partnerships with aerospace leaders.

The electric aircraft manufacturer has three prototype vehicles capable of carrying one to five passengers in what will be one of the world’s first certified e-VTOL. These electric aircraft vehicles will travel at 300 kilometers per hour and have a range of nearly 200 kilometers.

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