November 17-18, 2015, at the San Jose Convention Center

SAN JOSE, Calif.--Drone World Expo is scheduled for November 17-18, 2015, at the San Jose Convention Center in the heart of Silicon Valley. Hundreds of pre-qualified end-users have already registered to attend, representing commercial market sectors ranging from agriculture and construction to cinematography, law enforcement, fire/search and rescue, mapping and surveying and more. See www.droneworldexpo.com for a sample of the companies that are attending the event.

Drone World Expos educational program, designed with guidance from the events esteemed Advisory Board, will provide a road map for commercial drone use and key insights into measuring and maximizing the value drones can add to commercial businesses and civil organizations.

The conference, which is offered at no charge to qualified end-users,* will feature high-level panel discussions and workshops alongside an extensive series of case studies, presented by end-users who have already launched drone initiatives and are seeing results. Attendees will hear directly from farmers, construction professionals, environmental and wildlife conservationists, television and film executives, realtors, utilities and oil and gas companies, state parks, those using drones for humanitarian efforts and other civil and commercial applications, about the hurdles they had to overcome, the successes and pitfalls of the technology and the impact UAVs have had on their business and/or organization.

"With the help of the experts on our Advisory Board we are developing unique conference sessions and case studies that will not be seen at any other event. Furthermore, Drone World Expo is investing heavily to be the primary meeting place for commercial users of drone technology by offering complimentary admission to the full conference for qualified end-users," said Joel Davis, CEO, JD Events, producers of the event. "Due to our timely and unique content, our complimentary pass offer and convenient Silicon Valley location, weve already experienced an overwhelmingly positive response. Highly qualified end-users are signing up in droves and we look forward to welcoming them to Drone World Expo."

One of the case studies will be presented by Matt Merrifield, CTO, The Nature Conservancy of California, who will discuss Environment and Conservation. The session will cover how UAVs are potentially very useful for environmental monitoring and the barriers to implementation, the currently steep learning curves for operation, durability of use in remote and large areas, and overall costs associated with these factors. Merrifield will discuss how the use of UAVs in this context it will require ramping up of new skills within governmental and non-governmental organizations; the establishment of partnerships in both the commercial and academic space; and the establishment of "for good" programs amongst commercial vendors.

"Data and science are critical to finding solutions and drones have been an interesting tool for conservationists to capture unique information about our world. We now have the ability to quantify conservation success for our projects so we know whats working and where we need to make improvements. Its an honor to represent the conservation community at Drone World Expo as my colleagues and I showcase how drones are helping to solve critical environmental problems to a highly sophisticated crowd," said Matt Merrified.

In addition, Colin Snow, CEO and Founder of Drone Analyst, a research and consulting firm for the commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry will present How Drones are Transforming Big Data and the Internet of Things (IoT). In this session Snow will discuss how commercial drones are rapidly emerging as a competitive technology in a number of data collection scenarios. With small drones' ability to efficiently replace static sensors with one device that carries multiple connected sensors, is deployable, and re-programmable in mission, they are poised to transform the way we define big data and IoT.

This presentation will provide an overview of how data from drones is currently being captured, integrated for enterprise use, and the implications for the future of information technology. Attendees will get a look at work done by leading enterprise companies and software integrators like Accenture to provide workers with technology that helps businesses solve dull, dirty, dangerous, and complex problems. Presenters will provide an overview of the complex data types captured by drones; showcase the value of using drones as an IoT device; and create a vision for incorporating drone big data into existing enterprise business processes and software.

Drone World Expo is produced by JD Events, dedicated to the creation of targeted and innovative industry-leading events that deliver results. The company brings together highly qualified buying audiences, education-rich content and high-level networking opportunities -- all geared toward increasing business transactions in the markets it serves. Visit www.jdevents.com for more information.

*Complimentary conference passes are available to qualified end-users. End-users are defined as those with technology purchasing authority or purchasing influence who are currently employed by a commercial company that utilizes or has the potential to implement UAS technology for business purposes, but does not sell UAS technology products, services, integration or consulting. Company website is required and will be used in the qualification process. Please contact us at 203-371-6322 or info@jdevents.com with any questions.