Australian drone firm reshapes strategy over Google pull-out threat

Droneit Group's Training Coordinator Danko Zikic (L) And Droneit Group Instructor Nehuen Salina set up a drone on ground in Sydney, Australia February 4, 2021. REUTERS/Jill Gralow

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Instructors gaze watchfully from the shade of a tree as men in neon-green vests manipulate hand-held controllers clipped to mobile telephones as they direct drones flying over a vast Sydney field.

The classes are run by Droneit Group, an Australian firm that accredits learners to fly the unmanned aerial vehicles, but which is now reshaping its strategies after Alphabet Inc's web search giant Google threatened to leave the market.