HiDef Aerial Surveying today announced it has signed an exclusive deal with BioConsult SH GmbH & Co. KG of Germany which will see the environmental consultancy operate HiDef’s technology and infrastructure under licence. The five year contract allows BioConsult SH to provide digital video surveys to German wind farm developers, government departments and academic institutes.
The agreement which is thought to be the first of its kind in the sector ushers in a change in HiDef’s overseas strategy. Mark Robinson a director with the company explains “the business has been operating on a ‘direct to market’ policy in a number of territories since 2011, whilst we have had some notable successes we came to realise partnering with third parties established in a defined market, who are already providing similar services would allow HiDef to focus on core competencies such as development of technologies and the underpinning environmental science”.
HiDef are in discussion with other potential licensees in North & South America, Scandinavia, Australasia and Asia and expect to conclude at least three other exclusive license contracts in 2014.
Commenting further on the announcement Robinson said “Choosing BioConsult SH as a partner in Germany wasn’t a difficult decision, our organisations share common objectives and commitment to customers. They are highly experienced, have excellent exposure to potential customer, and as an indigenous service provider can hit the ground running”.
Georg Nehls Managing Director of BioConsult SH said “We looked at, and evaluated all options for delivering digital aerial surveys, including stills photography and developing our own system. It quickly became apparent developing a camera platform from scratch with all of the algorithms and supporting infrastructure would take a considerable amount of time and investment. Our assessment demonstrated digital video technology provided benefits which couldn’t be derived from ‘off the shelf ‘stills cameras. This led to a series of meetings and tests with HiDef over a twelve month period. By the end of next month we will be in a position to undertake digital aerial surveys using our own aircraft, camera rigs and processing systems. We are proud to be the first provider of digital surveys in Germany.
