This year, africanDRONE was proud to represent Drones For Good at DroneCon, held in Johannesburg, South Africa. DroneCon is billed as the industry’s leading event to discuss regulations, commercial operations, and provide an exhibition of the latest in drone technology and services.
DroneCon boasted an impressive array of speakers from across the spectrum of UAV operations, manufacture, and regulators. This included local manufacturer of VTOL aircraft AltiUAS (based in Knysna), drone analytics provider Aerobotics (based in Cape Town), international expert in drone technology Professor Filippo Tomasello from ICAO, and Simon Segwabe from the SACAA.
africanDRONE was invited to speak on the topic of “Drones For Good”, and lend our unique blend of drone journalism, activism, and civic operations to the conference. This resulted in a presentation which was a unique offering at the conference, as many speakers were focused on commercial operations and/or the technology itself. By presenting examples of our members’ work around the continent, we helped solidify africanDRONE as a leader in both the drone journalism space and the civic drone movement.
Some of the most interesting talks at the conference surrounded the topic of regulations. Commercial regulations in South Africa are stifling and expensive, and almost everyone was complaining about the time, money, and process to become a legal operator. Many questions from both ROC and non-ROC operators came down to the simple question: Will it get any easier to fly commercially?
The answers from the CAA representative, who gave the opening keynote, were a non-committal “maybe”. CAA rep Simon Segwabe politely and deftly fielded questions from the audience regarding the topic, oftentimes referring to the regulations as “not the problem”. By building a strong network of legal drone operators, he said, as well as working out the “bugs” in the licencing process (which he acknowledged were severe), the drone industry would thrive.
This seemed to be at odds with what many people wanted to hear, and what is becoming a serious rift within the drone community — what to do with the legal ROC operators, who have spent hundreds of thousands of Rands to become legal, if the regulations were relaxed? Unfortunately, the timelines presented seemed to imply that there would be no quick fix — ongoing meetings between CUUASA, the CAA, and other interested parties speak to a long and ongoing negotiation on how to manage airspace safely and effectively.
The exhibition hall was packed mostly with industrial drone operators and resellers, with a large netted cage in the centre of the arena where people could demonstrate the latest in drone technology. DJI has new zoom and infrared cameras, there are now drones with protective shells built around them for inspecting pipes, and numerous large military and cargo drones dotted the arena floor. Out of the various software companies, local business Aerobotics seems to be flying high, and their crop monitoring software is undoubtedly on par with massive international competitors such as Pix4D and Drone Deploy. Several futurists were also in attendance, regaling the audience with slick power points featuring animations of drone-delivered packages, drone taxis, and AI-enabled transport hubs to connect everything together. Multiple people (including africanDRONE) spoke of the darling of the “Tech/Aid” industry, Zipline, which operates in Rwanda and delivers parcels of blood to hospitals across the country.
All in all, for two days the schedule was packed with extremely relevant and engaging speakers from across the spectrum. Kudos need to go to the organizers of the conference itself, for keeping the speaking slots short, the panel discussions on track, and the schedule on time.
Moreover, the message of using drones for social and civic good was extremely well received, not only by many attendees, but by the organizers themselves. I think this sets an extremely good tone for using drones not only for commercial purposes, but as a transformational technology, a skills-based educational resource, and a powerful driver of our future economy — all at a low risk point for a country. africanDRONE is proud to be at the forefront and represent forward-thinking drone pilots and businesses who support this vision.