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Technology News:Drone maker DJI has lodged a complaint against the BBC over the way the flying gadgets were portrayed in TV reports.

In an open letter, it expressed “deep disappointment” with the way drones were depicted in the videos.

The reports were based on “hearsay”, claimed DJI, which felt they fell short of the BBC’s public remit to “inform, educate and entertain”.

The BBC said its investigation had shown positive uses of drones and that its programmes were fair. Disturbing report

In its letter, DJI spelled out its objections to two separate BBC reports. One was a Panorama report broadcast in April that dealt with the shutdown at Gatwick believed to have been caused by a drone.

The other was a Horizon report called “Britain’s Next Air Disaster? Drones” that was shown on 1 July.

DJI said it provided video footage and advice to production teams for both the reports, but said the BBC used little of this material.

Instead of featuring this information which showed how drones can be used safely, it claimed the BBC focused on “sensational, high-risk scenarios” that were unlikely to come about.

DJI detailed a range of measures that are now in use that help to make drone use safer. These included:

geo-fencing automatic sensing of aircraft remote identification systems collision sensors

The end result, alleged DJI, were reports that could not be “construed as balanced or impartial in anyone’s book”

The tech firm had specific complaints about details of each report. In particular, it said, the way that Horizon tested collisions between drones and aircraft was “disturbing” because it did not reflect the “real world”.

“Having these reports published in trusted media creates a scenario of misinformation potentially more dangerous than fake news about the drone industry,” wrote DJI.

The BBC responded: “In the wake of the crisis at Gatwick Airport last year – and the strong public interest in this – we believe our Horizon investigation into the technology behind drones, and whether the related UK safety measures are adequate, was justified, fair and impartial.”

It added: “From the outset, and repeatedly during the film, the positive uses of drones and the efforts the industry has taken to make them safe was referred to.

“The film does not claim that drone technology is unsafe, but rather that it can be used maliciously when in the wrong hands. Indeed, as drone users ourselves, the BBC is well aware of the positive benefits of them when used appropriately.”

 Read Full News : https://usacnnnews.com/2019/07/07/dji-challenges-bbc-drone-danger-reports/

Technology News:The U.S. Census Bureau is using new high-tech tools to help get an accurate population count next year as its faces challenges tallying people of color who live in remote places and can be wary of the federal government.The agency is using aerial photos of rural communities and hard-to-reach areas to verify addresses and determine where to send workers to ensure everyone is counted, Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said.

Satellites and planes take photos, and bureau employees compare the housing captured in the images to digital maps from the last census, in 2010. It takes a fraction of the time needed by workers in the field.

The agency has used geographic technology since 1990 but has never had access to such accurate tools from the air, said Deirdre Dalpiaz Bishop, head of the bureau’s geography division.

That technology — known as geographic information system, or GIS — uses computers to analyze neighborhoods, land formations, rivers and other data captured by satellites or traditional mapping.

The new technology to improve the census comes amid concerns that tribal areas and communities of color may be undercounted in the every-10-year tally that determines the amount of federal money states receive and whether they gain or lose U.S. congressional seats.

The U.S. Supreme Court is deciding whether the Trump administration can add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, which opponents say would suppress the count of immigrants who fear revealing their status to federal officials.

The Census Bureau also is facing criticism for planning internet and telephone questionnaires, which advocates say would be more likely to overlook rural areas without reliable communication infrastructure.

Steven Romalewski, director of the City University of New York’s Mapping Service, said the criticism is fair but credited the Census Bureau for using its geographic and aerial technology to gather needed data about the most difficult populations to count.

“The technology alone is no guarantee that you will have an accurate count,” said Romalewski, who is mapping “hard to count” communities ahead of the census. “But if you leverage data with satellite imagery, you have the best information before you.”

That’s what census employees intend to do while avoiding the political battles, Dillingham said.

“The culture of the census dictates us to be impartial,” the bureau director said during a recent trip to New Mexico, which has one of the most difficult populations to accurately count.

The state has a sizable Native American population and the highest percentage of Hispanic residents in the nation. Bishop said the technology will especially help such areas that have struggled for accurate counts.

Another is Mississippi’s majority-black Bolivar County, where only 59.7% of households mailed back their 2010 census questionnaire, according to CUNY’s Center for Urban Research.

The national rate was 74% in 2010, according to a Census Bureau news release.

The bureau began using the new imagery technology in 2013, Bishop said. Employees have been double- and triple-checking satellite images and those captured by the Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Imagery Program during the growing seasons in the continental U.S.

Read Full News : https://usacnnnews.com/2019/06/24/aerial-photos-help-census-officials-pinpoint-faraway-people/