technology
Drone army: how SA could benefit
Unmanned aircraft offer numerous potential benefits, from spraying for mosquitoes to deterring rhino poachers. Society has only scratched the surface of what the technology may offer
American online retailer Amazon and its Chinese equivalent, JD.com, completed their first commercial drone deliveries in 2016. In the same year, US logistics firm Zipline International began transporting blood products by drone to remote villages in Rwanda for that country’s government. The Zipline programme, which has clocked up almost 20,000 safe flights and has been expanded to include the delivery of 350 medical products, is the only national-scale drone delivery programme in the world.
As a result of Rwanda’s pioneering approach to regulating the sector, the number of unmanned flights in the country now exceeds the number of manned flights, and Rwanda has become the go-to destination for anyone wanting to learn how to unleash the drone economy...
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