This article is part of our Plzeň series, where we explored the city’s vibrant startup scene under PINE, the city’s innovation ecosystem. One of the important members is SITMP, which provides IT services to the city and municipal services.
We have articles about the ecosystem as a whole, as well as an in-depth interview with the mastermind behind it all, Luděk Šantora.
Not a startup
Part of SITMP is the Drones SIT department, which takes up an interesting spot within Plzeň. It’s not a startup, or even a company, but instead an integral part of the city’s IT services.
Michal Dvořák, programmer and pilot, explains: “We are an atypical unit. We are mostly under the city, but we also operate in the wider Plzeň region. And in addition, we are kind of glued onto the firefighters.”
To be attached in this manner, all members of Drones SIT have been accredited as voluntary firefighters. Dvořák grins: “That’s the reason why we have an emergency vehicle with flashing lights. We can drive fast and go through red signals.” The vehicle is also loaded up with batteries and other drone-related equipment. Over the course of 2025, the team responded to 140 incidents, which broke the record of the year before; this year likely won’t be any different.
Once at a location, the team releases its drones, and they get to work. Drones SIT has a lot of tasks, but its most common one is to be part of search and rescue operations. “We use the thermal camera to locate where there’s some living thing. Then we use the zoom camera to check if it’s a deer or if it’s a person. After that, we use the GPS system to ping the location to the police or whoever.”
Fit for purpose
The team can also help scout building on the verge of collapse. Pointing at a small drone in the team’s workshop, Dvořák says “This drone is cheap and expendable, so in cases where there’s a fire and firefighters don’t know whether they can go to the next room, we can use this drone to go inside and go in these kind of dangerous areas.”
Another, more expensive drone next to it is used for indoor flights. Dvořák’s colleague, Jindriska Reismuellerova, explains that, as it’s covered with a cage made of carbon, it can bump around without getting damaged. It navigates using lidar, a laser sensor, allowing it to fly indoors or in smoky or dusty conditions.
Mired in red tape
There are other tasks as well, but it seems that in many ways Drones SIT ’s main function is to be trailblazers. As the first organization of its kind, it started out mainly not able to do much, as laws then didn’t really allow for their type of activity.
“In Europe,” says Dvořák, “drones have a bunch of restrictions about how and where they can fly. In emergency situations, the surrounding areas are one of the most restricted. You can’t fly a drone anywhere near them, in case a helicopter would need to land.”
Because of these legislative issues, the Drones SIT team found that they weren’t called on very often at first, simply because nobody knew if they were even allowed to operate in certain situations. However, they kept up the pressure and did what they could to find opportunities to contribute.
As a result, they’re authors of many of the Czech Republic’s firsts. “We were the first organization that pushed for drones to be allowed to fly in the dark. We had to resolve that with the bureau that oversees civil flights in our country.”
Working the system
Practical considerations also seem to have persuaded the powers that be. A good example, says Dvořák, is in traffic situations where a lot of cars are stopped on the road. Police can’t get anywhere, and while a drone couldn’t fly in that area normally, in an emergency, nobody is going to complain if it gets the job done.
Dvořák smiles. “We were pioneers in this and we have kind of treaded the path for others to follow.” It’s not just for their own benefit, though, he emphasizes. “We are sharing everything we do, everything we know, and everything we have made. We try to share it for free, for anyone who could benefit from its use.”
Monitoring airspace
Another part of the unit’s duties is to keep local airspace clear. For example, tech from Czech startup Dronetag is used to monitor the city for unauthorized drone flights, a growing issue.
“When we started monitoring the traffic using these sensors, we immediately caught two drones that were flying above crowds and doing really reckless things, like flying dangerously and recording people without permission.”
“One of them was a young guy who makes TikTok videos, while the other borrowed a drone from the first guy. We immediately alerted the police, and they could handle the situation, and both had their drones confiscated.”
Spreading knowledge
As for sharing their knowledge, there’s a lot to go around, including some hardware fixes. While the drones themselves are mass-produced, many of their accessories are custom-made, often out of necessity. “We are not just simple users of the equipment, but we try to enhance it, both on the hardware and the software side,” says Dvořák.
For example, when the team needed a special narrow-beam light, it was 3D-printed in-house. Other innovations include flight controls, like a floating button that sends a drone’s GPS coordinates directly to HQ and allows the team to figure out exactly where something or somebody was spotted.
Mapping accidents
It’s not just hardware, either. The team has also developed all kinds of software. The most impressive is a program that can create overviews of traffic accidents, letting everybody involved, from emergency services to prosecutors and insurance companies, get an idea of what happened at a scene.
Dvořák explains how it works: “We use a camera that shoots in 8K resolution, and it has a manual shutter. So it can shoot pictures really fast when the drone is moving. With it, we can fly over the scene of traffic accidents and, in a matter of minutes, take pictures of the whole scene.”
Then, all these separate pictures are assembled into one huge one, using geo-location technology. Because of this precision, says Dvořák, “it can be used to create plans for evidence. It’s useful not only for the police, but also for court experts.”
Flying high
There’s no doubt that the team is proud of its accomplishments, but there are already plans for next steps, including a drone that can deliver first aid to people injured in places that are difficult for emergency vehicles to reach. The transport drone can carry an AED defibrillator, stretchers, and other equipment for emergency responders.
On top of that, there has been interest from similar organizations around Europe. It seems that what started in Plzeň may soon cover the entire continent.
