A security drone developed by Israel’s Airobotics. Photo: Airobotics

Israeli drone technology company Airobotics has struck a deal to help Dubai police make the city a safer place for residents and visitors ahead of a regional business conference.

Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum unveiled on Wednesday the Drone Box, an unmanned aerial system made by Airobotics to help Dubai police improve operational effectiveness and reduce emergency response time.

“During my visit to the Dubai Police Headquarters, we launched Drone Box, a platform to dispatch drones across Dubai to reduce response time to criminal and traffic reports from 4.4 minutes to 1 minute,” he said in a Twitter post.

The new drone system will officially launch during Expo 2020 Dubai, scheduled in October and planned to run for six months. The conference – the first World Expo ever hosted in region – is expected to draw more than 200 participants including nations, multilateral organizations, businesses and educational institutions.

Each drone will cover an area of about 19 square miles, with the project set to cover the entire city.

Jon Medved, CEO of Israel’s OurCrowd and an investor in Airobotics, said, “We are proud that millions of tourists, including scores of officials and heads of state who are expected to attend this year’s World Expo in Dubai, will benefit from the Airobotics system. This is truly the best stage on which to demonstrate the capabilities of the Drone Box, which can be applied in tens of thousands of cities around the world.”

The deal comes as the United Arab Emirates opened its embassy in Israel on Wednesday, aimed at catalyzing bilateral trade and investment opportunities.

Backed by the US, Israel normalized relations in 2020 with UAE and Bahrain under the Abraham Accords. Airobotics was among the first companies selected for a partnership in the Emirates following the deal.

The company has plans to eventually partner with US authorities for deployment there, and is bidding for a permanent “Beyond Visual Line Of Sight” permit from the US Federal Aviation Authority.

Last year, Airobotics also clinched a deal with the Singapore police forces to use drones to help implement social distancing restrictions during the coronavirus crisis.

Founded in 2014, Airobotics developed a pilotless drone solution to collect photos, video and other aerial data, for real-time visibility into threats like fires and other emergency situations.