SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Submitted via IRC for Fnord666
Countries across the continent are experimenting with this 21st century technology as a way to leapfrog decades of neglect of 20th century infrastructure.
Over the last two years, San Francisco-based startup Zipline launched a national UAV delivery program in East Africa; South Africa passed commercial drone legislation to train and license pilots; and Malawi even opened a Drone Test Corridor to African and its global partners.
In Rwanda, the country's government became one of the first adopters of performance-based regulations for all drones earlier this year. The country's progressive UAV programs drew special attention from the White House and two U.S. Secretaries of Transportation.
[...] After several test rounds, Zipline went live with the program in October, becoming the world's first national drone delivery program at scale.
"We've since completed over 6000 deliveries and logged 500,000 flight kilometers," Zipline co-founder Keenan Wyrobek told TechCrunch. "We're planning to go live in Tanzania soon and talking to some other African countries."
[...] In a non-delivery commercial use case, South Africa's Rocketmine has built out a UAV survey business in 5 countries. The company looks to book $2 million in revenue in 2018 for its "aerial data solutions" services in mining, agriculture, forestry, and civil engineering.
[...] The continent's test programs — and Rwanda's performance-based drone regulations in particular — could advance beyond visual line of sight UAV technology at a quicker pace. This could set the stage for faster development of automated drone fleets for remote internet access, commercial and medical delivery, and even give Africa a lead in testing flying autonomous taxis.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Freeman on Monday September 24 2018, @03:53PM (4 children)
While it would definitely help with getting little johnny the most recent edition of call of duty in the middle of the Sahara, that's certainly not the only use case. Having a centralized hub for the deliveries puts control of the delivery into the hands of the people making the delivery and the receiver of the package. All of a sudden, it could be possible for clinics to get their shipment of life saving medicine. Without having to worry about whether or not this entire shipment is going to get hijacked on the way. Just because, it could be used to benefit a group of people you seem to have a problem with, doesn't mean it can't benefit society as a whole. The whole "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face." saying seems apt here.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by wisnoskij on Monday September 24 2018, @05:34PM (1 child)
And who is shipping and who is receiving this shipment of medicine? Unless we are talking about a shipment of medicinal goat urine, or ground up rhino horn, it is White people.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday September 24 2018, @10:06PM
Please note I was referencing clinics that are there as effort in humanitarian aid. Specifically intended for the indigenous population.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday September 24 2018, @06:08PM (1 child)
Does delivering it by drone really prevent hijacking, or does it just change the manner in which shipments are hijacked?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday September 24 2018, @10:15PM
The technological hurdle to hijack a drone is much higher than it is to hijack a truck. There's the obvious, just shoot it down option, but that seems very likely to end with a destroyed package as well as drone. It's also much harder to spot a drone, than it is to just sit here on this one dirt road that's the only way to get from point A to point B. Sure, there'd be incentive to find a different manner to hijack shipments, but it seems like a worthwhile experiment.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"