Special issue on “drones as enablers of novel services: operational and technology challenges”

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) - based applications and services are no more a remote possibility but an economic and social opportunity. Emergency-response coordination, infra- structure monitoring, urban planning, security, logistics or sup- port for intelligent transportation systems are only some of the domains in which UAVs may become key in the near future. In particular, drones-in-the-city will become aerial sensing plat- forms that will be integrated into urban sensing networks, and the data they generate will be merged with the data flow coming from existing sensors through IoT platforms, to deliver new services and support innovative business models. Apart from the legislative changes needed to make urban drone-based ap- plications feasible, it is essential to ensure the efficient and safe operation of UAV fleets within a restrictive and complex oper- ating area. It is also important to enable the accurate acquisition, secure transmission and correct interpretation of drone-gathered information to allow new applications and business models to develop.