Advanced Security sees $100m drone opportunity

Advanced Security won the supreme award at this year's AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards and is forecasting annual revenue of $23 million in the coming year.

Advanced Security Group, which integrates electronic security systems, is planning to build a $100 million revenue company in the next five years with the launch of automated drone surveillance.

Auckland-based Advanced Security's sister company ASG E-Guard has received Civil Aviation Authority authorisation and has a patent application on software for a security system with a drone that can be dispatched automatically to a customer's site to investigate alarms and other alerts, in what chief executive Mike Marr says is a world-first.

The VirgilAir system lets drones travel predetermined flight routes and parameters, while accounting for weather, safety, privacy and other factors, feeding back live video footage.

"The benefits are impressive with a significant reduction in response time, constant video surveillance as well as providing a cost-effective response," Marr said. "VigilAir has the potential to change the face of global security."

The ASG E-Guard unit was launched in 2014 to develop products drawing on new technology, and has been working on a number of projects including unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and cloud-hosted security services.

"This new business has the potential to be a $100 million revenue company within five years," Marr said.

Advanced Security won the supreme award at this year's AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards and is forecasting annual revenue of $23 million in the coming year, having grown revenue at an average annual rate of 30 percent since its inception past 13 years ago.

New Zealand has been at the forefront of regulating drone use, introducing a framework this year where the CAA can certify use of the vehicles at night, beyond the line of sight, or above 400 feet. A report by commissioned by Callaghan Innovation estimates allowing drones to fly beyond the line of sight will generate economic gains of up to $190 million in farming, forestry and energy sectors alone.

ASG E-Guard will demonstrate the VigilAir product at the annual New Zealand Security Association conference in Auckland on Thursday.