COVID-19 focused worldwide attention on drones, speakers said during an Akin Gump webinar Wednesday. The pandemic “created an environment … we have not seen before,” said Ruby Sayyed, International Air Transport Association acting director air-transport movement infrastructure. The need for remote access to facilities for security, inspection or disinfection “increased because of the pandemic,” but safety is critical for the public to accept more use of drones, she said. “When we look at integrating drones into the supply chain, it’s going to take more than just technologies to enable that and to make that scalable to different locations and regions,” Sayyed said. Mark Wuennenberg, Drone Delivery Canada vice president-regulatory affairs, said his company trialed delivery of supplies to a remote first-nation community on an island. The normal mode of delivery is by helicopter with a cost of $1,300 hourly, he said. Drones can reduce that 80-90%, he said. The island community’s goal is to have zero COVID-19 cases because of limited healthcare services, Wuennenberg said. “They can very quickly become overwhelmed and the best method to address the threat is simply not have contact” with outsiders, he said. The company wants to enter the U.S. market and is seeking more harmonization with rules here, he said. “That will do wonders for the U.S. industry.” Building trust with government is important to getting regulations right, Wuennenberg said, noting Canada has been looking at drone rules for six years. “It was important to start early so we understood the box in which we were operating,” he said. Since March, Kenya-based Astral Aviation has been delivering COVID supplies to 26 countries in Africa using manned flights, said CEO Sanjeev Gadhia. Africa is made up of 54 countries, which is a challenge, he said. The “good news” is that after a three-year process, Kenya has rules, which are being harmonized with other nations in East Africa, he said. Drones are being used in Africa for broadcasting the importance of social distancing and spraying hot spots, he said. Once vaccines are developed, a challenge will be getting them everywhere, especially since they have limited shelf life, Gadhia said. Drones can help with last-mile delivery, he said: “We believe Africa is the perfect testing ground. This is the place where we have the worst infrastructure and a lot of challenges with accessibility and connectivity.”

Back-to-school spending may exceed records, reported the National Retail Federation Wednesday. Students and their families anticipate buying more laptops and computer accessories “in anticipation that at least some classes will take place online” due to COVID-19, it said. NRF canvassed 7,500 consumers in early July, finding parents with kids in elementary through high school plan to spend $789.49 on average, topping the previous record of $696.70 last year. College students and their families expect to spend $1,059.20 on average, which would top last year’s record of $976.78. NRF projects total back-to-school spending to reach $101.6 billion, topping the $100 billion mark for the first time. Slightly more than half of respondents said they expect their kids will take at least some of their classes at home this fall. Of those, 36% expect to buy laptops, 22% computer speakers or headphones, 21% other accessories and 17% printers.

Retailers are cracking down on the maskless. Walmart shoppers will be required to wear masks beginning Monday, it said Wednesday, citing the spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases. About 65% of Walmart’s 5,000-plus stores and clubs are in areas that have such government mandates, blogged Dacona Smith, chief operating officer-Walmart U.S., and Lance de la Rosa, COO-Sam’s Club. Citing states and municipalities with mask mandates that “virtually everyone” complies with, they anticipate the same to happen in other parts of the country. The company didn’t respond to questions. The National Retail Federation hopes it's a “tipping point” in the debate over masks. NRF encouraged all retailers to adopt such a nationwide policy. It highlighted Starbucks, Best Buy, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Apple, Qurate and Costco requirements. The association co-signed a July 2 letter with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and other industry groups to President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and governors, advocating that a national mask standard be implemented locally. As Best Buy was gearing up for a reopening after shelter-in-place last month, it said staffers would be required to wear face masks and it was asking customers to wear them, too. It upgraded that position Wednesday, joining other retailers requiring customers to wear face coverings in its stores.

Though pandemic “consequences” remain a challenge for the global economy, TomTom revenue is “on the road to recovery from the lows that we experienced in April,” said CEO Harold Goddijn on a Q2 investor call Wednesday. The GPS and mapping device supplier had “a very good upward trend in the second half of the quarter, both for automotive and for retail products,” he said. The June 30 quarter started with “factory and retail closures impacting trading conditions for automotive and consumer,” said Chief Financial Officer Taco Titulaer. The quarter got progressively better with the reopening of automotive factories and “the return to retail activity,” he said. “June was by far the strongest month and contributed about half of the quarter's operational revenue,” though it was down 47% from a year earlier, he said.

With tech industry eyes trained on the fate of the Jan. 6-9 CES 2021 in Las Vegas amid COVID-19, CTA with little fanfare announced Monday it was canceling all CES Asia shows. The pandemic forced the mid-March cancellation of the 2020 CES Asia that was set for June 10-12 in Shanghai (see 2003110036). “We evaluate our events in light of the changing needs of our industry and the priorities of our members and exhibitors,” said CTA. “Given the pandemic, the economy, and our visible role as an American trade association, we have decided to focus on other CES related programs.” The State Department issued a "China -- Level 4: Do Not Travel" advisory June 4 for U.S. nationals. The Shanghai government mandates a 14-day quarantine for foreign visitors.

New video delivery technologies and smart content management solutions are bolstering enterprise video, said ABI Research Tuesday. It forecasts the market will reach $18.7 billion this year due to work-at-home mandates. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are enabling enterprise video applications to be more efficient, while facial and object recognition, scene detection and speech-to-text capabilities are making video indexing and search functions easier, faster and more accurate, said analyst Khin Sandi Lynn. Low latency video allows livestreaming of corporate events to internal and external viewers. Enterprise video deployments are increasingly cloud based, she said: The expansion of fiber networks and 5G infrastructure will improve the content delivery process further.

Crown Castle sought FCC emergency authorization for temporary tower projects in Los Angeles and Carlsbad, California. “The projects presented in this request qualify for emergency authorization because each is needed to serve unserved or underserved areas due to COVID-19 effects,” said filings posted Tuesday.

With coronavirus cases in Florida spiking, ITEXPO tech trade show organizers are still pressing ahead with the Feb. 9-12 physical event at the Miami Beach Convention Center. “It’s not a normal year,” organizers emailed prospective exhibitors Tuesday. “But by not taking action now, you may miss opportunities for sales and growth later. Plan now for a huge bounceback in 2021.” The Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center reported Tuesday that Miami-Dade, Florida, surpassed Queens, New York, in fourth place among U.S. counties with the highest volume of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The vast majority of “company leaders” surveyed plan to let employees work remotely at least “some of the time” after the pandemic, reported Gartner Tuesday. It canvassed 127 human resources executives June 5, finding 82% intend to continue with telework policies at least part time. Forty-seven percent said they plan to let employees work remotely “full time,” it said. “Flex time” will be the new normal for many organizations, it said. Forty-three percent versus 42% plan to grant employees flex days or flex hours. “The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a huge experiment in widespread remote working,” said Gartner. “As business leaders plan and execute reopening of their workplaces, they are evaluating more permanent remote working arrangements.”

The National Retail Federation scheduled a free, three-day online event to help retail e-commerce and digital marketing professionals navigate COVID-19. The July 20-22 event will include marketing strategies for reaching Generation Zers, said the association Tuesday. “Consumer expectations have never been higher,” said NRF. “It’s about building personalized omnichannel experiences, cultivating brand loyalty and much more.”