The drones, also called unmanned aerial vehicles, would eventually be fully autonomous and guided by GPS, although a human operator would always be "in the loop".
Sweeney said New Zealand was a "safer" testing ground than the United States, as the airspace was not as crowded.
New Zealand was the only country in the southern hemisphere with the capacity to conduct such a trial as Flirtey's.
Kelvin Barnsdale, of Canterbury University's spatial engineering research centre, is working to establish two 100sq km drone testing areas in Canterbury where the trials would be carried out.
"They'll be open for industry groups that want to come along and we'd especially be open to international researchers."
The areas, which would have workshops on site, would be restricted to other aircraft while the drones were airborne.
Meanwhile, many of the country's councils are starting to realise the potential of drones.
Linda Bulk, director of Raglan-based aerial robotics company Aeronavics, said she had been in discussion with numerous councils about the potential cost-saving uses of drones.
"It could be for things like property inspection, bridge inspection, building inspections. Even weed detection and eradication - there's a lot of potential."
She imagined that in the next few years all of the country's councils would use the devices.
