The Drone Frontier

12 Episodes

Reverse

Bright spots and ripple effects

2022-07-0526:27

We speak to Tendai Pasipanodya and Hans-Peter Thamm from the Drones Doing Good Alliance. Tendai is a systems change expert with 17 years of experience in identifying, developing, supporting and co-creating innovative solutions to tackling development challenges. Hans-Peter is a drone manufacturer who developed one of the first ever VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) drones in the world.Both guests discuss the importance of localisation and the value of local manufacturing of drones. They al...

Plugging into existing systems

2022-07-0547:07

We speak to Tautvydas Juskauskas, Drones Specialist at UNICEF Supply Division and member of the Interagency Supply Chain Group, about how to best implement drone solutions within existing programmes and share global learning. We then talk with Olivier Defawe and Luciana Maxim of VillageReach, who have been at the forefront of testing UAVs for healthcare delivery. We discuss what they have learnt from their FTL pilot in Mozambique, as well as what they recommend to others who wish to inte...

People, products and procedures

2022-07-0540:33

In this episode we are joined by Nigel Breyley, drones expert and independent technical advisor on all seven drone projects conducted with the Frontier Technologies Hub to date.We also speak to Anne Nderitu, who is co-founder and Chief Operations Officer at Swift Lab in Kenya. Anne is an aerospace engineer and a drone pilot who is developing her drone cargo delivery business in the country.With Nigel and Anne we discuss regulation, both from a global and local perspective. We also look at how...

Testing beyond the tech

2022-07-0536:25

We first speak to Ruth McPake from the Frontier Technologies Hub. Ruth is a Senior Consultant at IMC Worldwide, one of the partner organisations that make up the Hub. The Hub has explored the use of drones predominantly through its Livestreaming programme, which since 2016 has partnered FCDO staff with technologists and other actors to test an idea for impact within a pilot project. Ruth talks about what we’ve learned from testing drone technology in a wide variety of use cases. Next, w...

The Future of Drones for Good

2022-07-0528:47

We speak to Jonty Slater, Managing Director of The Blue Globe, who has worked with international development innovation programmes for the last eight years, and with drones for the last four years. Jonty speaks to us about which drone use cases are showing the most potential in the sector, as well as how infrastructure and local ownership should continue to form key considerations when it comes to building projects in the future.Links:FTL UAV Portfolio Review - https://www.frontiertechhub.org...

Data and diplomacy: frontier data for diplomacy and international relations work at the FCDO

2021-07-0821:44

We talk to Harriet Cross, the UK High Commissioner to Trinidad & Tobago. We hear about Harriet’s interests in making better use of frontier data technologies in her team’s work, including both her outward facing diplomacy work and the efficient running of the High Comission. Harriet also shares her important insights on how data technology experts and diplomats can work better together in the future.LinksFrontier Technology Hub blog post: MediumFull FCDO report: Frontier Data Study - rele...

Building back better: the new data paradigm and how we can use it to build strong and inclusive societies

2021-07-0826:36

We talk to Emmanual Letouze, Director and co-Founder of Data-Pop Alliance, a coalition on Big Data and development co-created in 2013 by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, MIT Media Lab, and Overseas Development Institute. Emmanual takes a philosophical approach to understanding how new data opportunities fit within wider global trends, explaining how new data opportunities provide a lens on the nature of our challenges as well as a lever to help solve them. Of particular importance to...

Governing Data: Unlocking new and existing data sources for public decision making

2021-07-0827:05

We talk to Stefaan Verhulst, Co-Founder and Chief Research and Development Officer of the Governance Laboratory (The GovLab) at New York University (NYU), about his extensive work and insights on improving the sharing of new frontier data sources (including business-to-government sharing). We hear from Stefaan about his latest work on the Data4Covid19 call for action, which helps organisations use innovative data sources to address Covid-19 and future threats in a responsible, systematic...

Mapping humanity: using frontier data technologies and AI to provide hyper-local spatial data around the world

2021-07-0823:40

We talk to Melissa Persaud, Director of New Business, Global Development at Fraym, about their pioneering work using frontier data technology to produce hyper-local (1km^2 level) spatial data where data is traditionally hard to access. Fraym’s data maps are used by companies, development organisations and governments to address a wide range of needs, including responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this episode, we also discuss Fraym’s work with CovidAction, a technology and innovation ...

Complex Cities, Digital Data: Building urban climate resilience through the locally led production of new data

2021-07-0528:37

We talk to Edward Anderson, Senior Technology and Resilience Specialist for the World Bank based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Edward works at the nexus of urbanization,climate risks, and the leveraging of frontier data technologies for greater resilience in African economies. A critical challenge for many developing country Governments is the limited availability of spatial data that can inform planning and coordination for climate risk reduction, especially in fast-changing urban areas l...

How to engage with data: Promoting data science in government and beyond

2021-07-0222:22

We talk to Tom Wilkinson, Data Science Hub Lead of the Data Science Campus, Office for National Statistics. The purpose of the Hub is to support UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) staff and partners, including the wider UK Government, in the use of cutting-edge data science tools and frontier data sources for international development. Tom speaks about the Data Science Campus and how we can ensure new data techniques can be taken up. In particular, how frontier data t...

Counting Cows: Putting data science tools in the hands of development decision makers

2021-06-3020:32

We speak to Tim Harris, user engagement lead for the Data Science Hub of the Data Science Campus, Office for National Statistics. The purpose of the Hub is to support UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) staff and partners, including the wider UK Government, in the use of cutting-edge data science tools and frontier data sources for international development. A key part of the Hub’s work is to support near real-time decision making through the automation of data collect...

#box-pro-ellipsis-173774044664437{-webkit-line-clamp:2;}The Drone Frontier