The Drone Frontier

We first speak to Ruth McPake from the Frontier Technologies Hub. Ruth is a Senior Consultant at IMC Worldwide, one of the partner organisations that make up the Hub.
The Hub has explored the use of drones predominantly through its Livestreaming programme, which since 2016 has partnered FCDO staff with technologists and other actors to test an idea for impact within a pilot project. Ruth talks about what we’ve learned from testing drone technology in a wide variety of use cases.
Next, we hear from Kush Gadhia, Senior Business Development Manager at Astral Aerial Solutions, a drone company and affiliate of Astral Aviation, an all-cargo airline based in Kenya.
Kush has been working on one of the pilots supported by the programme, which has looked specifically at whether drones can be used as a complementary solution to tackle the desert locust problem in East Africa. We discuss Kush’s experience of leading a small, local team, and what the next steps are when it comes to testing drones in this nascent use case.
Links:
Village Reach Evidence Generation Guide - https://www.updwg.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/UAS-Evidence-Generation-Toolkit-V2-Nov-2019.pdf
UNICEF sustainability toolkit - https://unicef.github.io/drone-4sdgtoolkit/

FTL UAV Portfolio Review - https://www.frontiertechhub.org/resources/uav-portfolio-review
Frontier Technology Hub Website - https://www.frontiertechhub.org/

We speak to Jonty Slater, Managing Director of The Blue Globe, who has worked with international development innovation programmes for the last eight years, and with drones for the last four years.
Jonty speaks to us about which drone use cases are showing the most potential in the sector, as well as how infrastructure and local ownership should continue to form key considerations when it comes to building projects in the future.
Links:
FTL UAV Portfolio Review - https://www.frontiertechhub.org/resources/uav-portfolio-review
Frontier Technology Hub Website - https://www.frontiertechhub.org/

We talk to Melissa Persaud, Director of New Business, Global Development at Fraym, about their pioneering work using frontier data technology to produce hyper-local (1km^2 level) spatial data where data is traditionally hard to access.

Fraym’s data maps are used by companies, development organisations and governments to address a wide range of needs, including responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this episode, we also discuss Fraym’s work with CovidAction, a technology and innovation pipeline funded by the FCDO.

Links:

Fraym CovidAction project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DA9FXtj5QY]

Fraym’s website: https://fraym.io/

Frontier Technology Hub blog post: Medium

Full FCDO report: Frontier Data Study - releasing the power of digital data for development

We talk to Edward Anderson, Senior Technology and Resilience Specialist for the World Bank based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Edward works at the nexus of urbanization,climate risks, and the leveraging of frontier data technologies for greater resilience in African economies.

A critical challenge for many developing country Governments is the limited availability of spatial data that can inform planning and coordination for climate risk reduction, especially in fast-changing urban areas like Dar es Salaam. Giving examples from his work on the World Bank- and FCDO-funded Tanzania Urban Resilience Programme, Edward explains how to work alongside local government institutions to support the production and use of frontier data technologies to enhance the capacity to identify and respond to climate shocks and disasters.
Links

Frontier Technology Hub blog post: Medium
Full FCDO report: Frontier Data Study - releasing the power of digital data for development

In this episode we are joined by Nigel Breyley, drones expert and independent technical advisor on all seven drone projects conducted with the Frontier Technologies Hub to date.
We also speak to Anne Nderitu, who is co-founder and Chief Operations Officer at Swift Lab in Kenya. Anne is an aerospace engineer and a drone pilot who is developing her drone cargo delivery business in the country.
With Nigel and Anne we discuss regulation, both from a global and local perspective. We also look at how implementers can empower local stakeholders and design for sustainability, as well as exploring the knowledge necessary to operate drones in different countries.
Links
JARUS (Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems) - http://jarus-rpas.org/
ICAO (The International Civil Aviation Organization ) - https://www.icao.int/
UPDWG - UAV for Payload Delivery Working Group - ​​https://www.updwg.org/
FTL UAV Portfolio Review - https://www.frontiertechhub.org/resources/uav-portfolio-review
Frontier Technology Hub Website - https://www.frontiertechhub.org/