"Once you start mapping the power plants and substations and wires, you can connect the infrastructure with the elite compounds, " Mr. Melvin says.

WSJ: Gulags, Nukes and a Water Slide: Citizen Spies Lift North Korea's Veil

Backers hope they will prove a cheaper alternative to helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft for tasks as varied as power and pipeline inspection, mapping, security, border surveillance, research, filming, fire fighting, search and rescue and delivering supplies.

ECONOMIST: A small Welsh airport has become an unlikely tech cluster

These maps, which primarily adorned the world's churches and other places of power and learning, succeeded in returning mapping to the dark ages, getting much wrong and gleefully so.

WSJ: Lost in Our Maps: A History of Cartographic Catastrophes

For example, a telephony API gives you the power of the phone network without the need to purchase expensive hardware, a mapping API makes it possible for you to build customized, dynamic maps without signing contracts with data providers, and a payments API lets you accept payments without having to worry about complying with complex financial regulations, etc.

FORBES: Twitter Inspires A Developer's Revolt

With mapping, adjusters could see if a claim was coming from outside the area hit by a power outage.

FORBES: Analyzing The Flood Of Data From Tropical Storms In Real-Time