SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Two New Mexico companies are hoping to use solar-powered, fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicles to create a service that gathers data from the sky.

Wildflower International's CEO Kimberly deCastro sees the future of information technology taking off to the skies, and the company has partnered with Silent Falcon, which monitors wildfires for the U.S. Forest Service with its solar-powered, fixed-wing UAV to get there, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported earlier this month.

"Data is the new oil. Period," she said.

Her company specializes in providing information technology servi...