Professor Janet Dickinson Professor Janet Dickinson

Professor Janet Dickinson, Visiting Fellow at BU, is a thought leader on transport, travel and climate change.

With colleagues from the University of Southampton, UCL and University of Leeds she is exploring the viability of delivery drones to cut costs and improve patient experience in the NHS.

Her work includes using innovative approaches to consultation, empowering the public to impact policy and regulatory decisions.

Cutting through misinformation

It鈥檚 often assumed that drones will play a huge part in our everyday lives in the future, from delivering takeaways to transporting medical supplies. And many people, not least policymakers, are keen to embrace new technology or the 鈥榥ext big thing鈥�. That鈥檚 especially the case if they believe it will cut costs, achieve environmental goals and improve efficiency.

But it鈥檚 a problem when the policy direction simply isn鈥檛 supported by evidence. In fact, our research into the use of drones for medical delivery is raising serious questions about what they鈥檝e got to offer. While they might be useful in some situations, we think there鈥檚 better, cheaper and more eco-friendly ways to deliver medical supplies.

So, we have an uphill challenge ahead of us. We must cut through the misinformation to ensure policymakers receive evidence that demonstrates the more nuanced reality. In many cases though, policymakers want quick and exciting solutions. They don鈥檛 always want to be brought back down to earth!

Using virtual reality and gameplay

We know that the views of the public are important when it comes to shaping policy 鈥� after all, they鈥檙e the voters. So, we commissioned a YouGov survey to seek their opinions. We found that a lot of people are quite sceptical about drones.

Another exciting part of the public consultation has been using virtual reality, digital gameplay and board games, including at the Bloomsbury Festival and the ESRC Social Science Festival. The interactivity helps people envision how drone delivery might look and sound in the real world. It鈥檚 much more illuminating, and engaging, than listening to an academic explanation!

We found people are particularly worried about noise and intrusion, especially over residential areas. They鈥檙e also unsure about safety and security, and the loss of 鈥榯he human touch鈥� in ensuring medical products get to where they鈥檙e meant to go. Interestingly, these concerns were shared by younger people, who you might assume would be more inclined to embrace new tech. It鈥檚 important that we pass on these views to policymakers.

We鈥檝e also brought drone delivery to life with policymakers themselves, such as representatives from the Department for Transport and Transport for London. Private sector firms involved in transport have had a go too. The Head of Future Mobility for WSP engineering consultancy told us on LinkedIn that our board game was 鈥渢he best public engagement tool (he鈥檇) ever used鈥�.

What鈥檚 next?

The team will continue to work together on this project and hope to engage with a wide range of organisations who might be affected by delivery drone use. And, using Google Street View, we can build accurate simulations so that people can visualise how drones might be used in the locations they鈥檙e familiar with.

We then want to get our findings and recommendations to the NHS, local authorities and national governments. We will certainly highlight where there鈥檚 potential for medical delivery drones to improve healthcare. But we won鈥檛 shy away from being honest about the challenges and limitations we鈥檝e found. If we can bring the policy discussions back down to earth, we鈥檒l be in a better place to work together on more viable solutions.