Medical delivery is just the start for some plans involving delivery in Africa. Using the same rationale, futurist J.M. Ledgard writes that Africa may be looking at a future where high-value goods are transported on drone cargo routes (1). He works on the Red Line project with Afrotech, which aims to provide open-source drones and routes across Africa (2). His analysis point out many of the most relevant issues in the creation of cargo drones. Africa needs to quickly industrialize in order to provide incomes for a huge youth boom, in his analysis, and drones can provide fast infrastructure to get there. He also point to the need for drone technology to be regulated by having defined flying zones, or routes. In the same way, he sees a need for drones that created in a manner that is unobtrusive and doesn’t disturb people, so as to be pleasant and not promote conflict. Here, he is pointing out one of the most neglected social groups in the analysis of how drones will be accepted in the public, namely those who come under the spaces which drones occupy and into which the project noise and even their simple image (a disruption of normally empty skies). These are important considerations in the development of these cargo drone routes.
But Africa’s and Asia’s entrepreneurs aren’t waiting for delivery drones to be feasible. In Ghana and South Africa, startups are providing aerial photography services (3). Rocketmine CEO reports a $1 million dollar revenue is expected in 2016 for his South African company that provides mapping services and analysis from aerial photography. They also work other jobs such as commercials and video. Similarly, in Ghana, Aeroshutter works on projects that involve basic photography for companies, but it isn’t in the space of mapping and analysis yet. The bigger contrast here, though, is not the size and scope of the company’s’ operations, but in the regulatory environments. South Africa has strict rules that require piloting licenses, while Ghana’s airspace is largely unregulated. This can be traced to the stronger governance in South Africa, as well as the ability of the South African government to actually detect violators and take punitive measures against them. In Asia, India has seen a pizza delivery service begin with drones (4). In the Philippines, companies have begun offering digital mapping services (5). Nor should we only look at drones in action. While India only recently released its regulations on the usage of drones commercially, it has a thriving IT sector which includes companies like Garuda Robotics and Edall systems that create the software and develop hardware designs that make up the technological systems drones inhabit (6).
Sources:
- Ledgard, J. M. “A Radical But Possible Plan to Connect African Nations With Cargo Drones.” Wired.com. WIRED, 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 10 May 2016.
- “Accessibility Links.” Afrotech.epfl.ch. Afro Tech, n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
- Bright, Jake. “Africa’s Commercial Drones Take Off.” Techcrunch.com. TechCrunch, 02 Mar. 2016. Web. 10 May 2016.
- “Drones in India.” Center for the Study of the Drone. Bard College, 04 Dec. 2014. Web. 10 May 2016.
- “SRDP Consulting, Inc.” SRDP Consulting, Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
- Phandis, Aneesh, and Arindum Majumder. “Drone Sales Surge on the Back of Govt’s Friendly Policies.” Business Standard. Business Standard, 30 Apr. 2016. Web. 10 May 2016.
- Art by Chege Gitau
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