fbpx

Malawi humanitarian drone test corridor: the world’s largest drone test area

Plans for the world’s first dedicated humanitarian air corridor for drones in Malawi were announced in 2016. A few weeks ago the Government of Malawi and UNICEF launched the test. The corridor is the first in Africa, and one of the first globally with a focus on humanitarian and development use.

Centred on Kasungu Aerodrome, in central Malawi, with a 40km radius (80km diameter) the corridor is designed to provide a controlled platform for the private sector, universities and other partners to explore how UAVs can be used to help deliver services that will benefit communities. It is the world’s largest drone test area.

The Drone Corridor will be used to test three key areas critical for the delivery of humanitarian aid:

  • Imagery: generating and analyzing aerial images for development and during humanitarian crises (floods, earthquakes)
  • Connectivity: exploring the possibility for drones to extend Wi-Fi or cell phone signals across difficult terrain.
  • Transport: delivery of small low weight supplies such as emergency medical supplies, vaccines and samples for laboratory diagnosis.

The UAV corridor will run for at least one year, until June 2018, and interested businesses, universities and individuals may apply on a rolling basis. So far, 12 companies, universities and NGOs from around the world have applied to use the corridor.

Short video

Source: Unicef

Gova-Media

Author: Gova-Media