TITLE:
Convergence of the Unmanned Aerial Industry
AUTHORS:
Johnny Elie Chamata
KEYWORDS:
Unmanned Aircraft, Aerial Systems, Industry Convergence, Industrial Analysis, Drivers, Consequences
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.7 No.2,
February
27,
2017
ABSTRACT: Industry
convergence—the
merger of previously unrelated industries—is a model that has had a strong influence on various
industries and received substantial attention among practitioners over the past
years. Despite this, industry convergence has received little attention in the
field of unmanned aircraft. As the unmanned aircraft industry is still in the
infancy stage, exploring the industrial status may contribute to the technology’s
body of knowledge and may be useful for entrepreneurial decision making. Thus,
this research paper investigates the degree to which the unmanned aerial
vehicle sector represents an example of industry convergence and predicts the
consequences built upon it. The investigation
is based on the convergence theory and evidence from the unmanned aerial systems industry is provided to
support theoretical foundations. Conclusions show that unmanned aerial
technology is converged to an undefined extent and the author calls for further
related empirical research.