Malawi humanitarian drone test corridor: the world’s largest drone test area
Gova-Media
On 28 June 2017, a community in Kasungu in central Malawi is introduced to the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) or drone technology which is being tested for transportation, connectivity and imagery. The Government of Malawi and UNICEF are launching a drone testing corridor to assess potential humanitarian use of UAVs. The corridor is the first in Africa and one of the first globally with a focus on humanitarian and development use. The launch of the UAV testing corridor follows a pilot project in Malawi in March 2016 on the feasibility of using drones for the transportation of dried blood samples for early infant diagnosis of HIV.
On 29 June 2017, the Government of Malawi and UNICEF launch an air corridor to test potential humanitarian use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones. The corridor is the first in Africa and one of the first globally with a focus on humanitarian and development use. It is centred on Kasungu Aerodrome, in central Malawi, with a 40km radius (80km diameter) and 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. The UAV corridor will run for at least one year, until June 2018. Since the announcement in December 2016, 12 companies, universities and NGOs from around the world have applied to use the corridor. This includes drone manufacturers, operators and telecom companies such as: GLOBHE (Sweden) in collaboration with HemoCue and UCANDRONE (Greece), and Precision (Malawi), all of which were present at the launch to demonstrate connectivity, transportation and imagery uses respectively. UAV technology is still in the early stages of development. UNICEF is working globally with a number of governments and private sector partners to explore how UAS can be used in low income countries. All projects adhere to a strict set of innovation principles, with a focus on open source and user-centere
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.
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