Imagine this: A child is sick in a small
village in the hills of Rwanda. It’s late
at night, and the nearest hospital is
hours away. So the kid’s worried
mother picks up the phone, and,
shortly thereafter, the much-needed
asthma medication arrives — thanks to
a drone.
Yes, Dr. Drone may sound futuristic,
but it could be a way to get ahead of
neighboring Kenya , which has banned
the use of this tech for fear of the
terrorist group al-Shabaab. And
unmanned aerial vehicles, as they’re
technically known, could also be a
game-changer for humanitarian
purposes and trade in countries such
as Rwanda, with few roads to rural
areas. Indeed, this tiny East African
country , known as the land of a
thousand hills, is leading the continent
into the future of drone use — it’s
even home to what could become the
world’s first drone port by the end of
2017.
The word “drone” tends to conjure up
images of terrified children running
for cover in parts of the Middle East,
or chubby nerds scaring passersby in
San Francisco with their silent toys.
And there are plenty of skeptics about
how far this technology may go —
many think deploying a large network
of drones over developing countries is
naive at best, and dangerous at worst.
But for those like Jonathan Ledgard, a
director at the Swiss Federal Institute
of Technology in Lausanne, people
have only begun to scratch the surface
of this potentially world-changing
technology. “Drones could do for
transportation in Africa what mobile
phones have done for banking,” he
says.
Despite their difference in beliefs, both
sides agree that the lack of
infrastructure for transportation is one
of the main factors holding back sub-
Saharan economies. According to a
study by the University of Sydney, only
34 percent of rural Africans live within
two kilometers of an all-season road,
compared to 65 percent in other
developing regions, like Southeast
Asia. Even in nations like Nigeria and
South Africa, where the economies are
growing close to the double digits
annually, the lack of infrastructure is
getting in the way of farmers being
able to sell their produce and e-
commerce ventures distributing their
goods.
Drones could be part of the solution.
At least that’s what people like
Ledgard and his group of scientists
say. They’ve spent the last few years
developing and testing carrier drones
for civilian purposes, and they’ll also
be the ones in charge of filling
Rwanda ’s drone hub with solar-
powered flying machines. (The design
will be the work of the world-
renowned architect Norman Foster,
who has already envisioned a series of
clay-made domes overlooking a lake,
where the port will be built.) “Drones
offer us such a great opportunity for
development,” says Eric Rutayisire,
founder of CHARIS, Rwanda’s first
drone-making company.
But what about locals? While drones
are likely to become cheaper and more
accessible in the years to come, these
machines currently cost thousands of
dollars, putting them outside the reach
of most folks here. And while some
Western companies may heavily
market their drones in this area, “we
need to be wary of people promising
quick fixes,” says Kristin B. Sandvik,
director of the Norwegian Centre for
Humanitarian Studies.
What most tech optimists also forget
to mention is that Africa already has a
history of drone use: The devices were
used by colonial powers to bomb
rebellions in the late 20th century.
More recently, they’ve been used by
the United Nations in Congo, and a
couple of them fell near Goma, hurting
civilians and burning down fields of
crops. It’s hard, too, to make sure the
power of drones is not abused when
the laws and regulations are being
created on the fly — some of the
countries that could benefit from this
technology have governments that are
arguably undemocratic.
Yet fear is a bad advisor, says
Rwanda’s minister of youth and ICT,
Jean Philbert Nsengimana. He recently
signed a new agreement with the San
Francisco-based company Zipline,
whose aerial vehicles — aka vampire
drones — will be able to deliver blood
to more than 22 transfusion facilities
throughout the country. The life-saving
potential of this technology has been
tested by Doctors Without Borders,
which used drones to fight
tuberculosis in Papua New Guinea.
And if the Rwandan experiment works,
it won’t be long before other countries
in the region decide to follow suit. For
Rutayisire, the prospect of aerially
connecting hospitals, tech hubs and
markets across the continent is simply
too exciting not to try. “With so much
potential,” he says, “it’s hard to not be
optimistic.”

http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/this-tiny-african-country-is-leading-the-worlds-drone-race/68048

It's a very good idea but for terrorists.


God help Africa