Page 131 - Proceedings of the 2017 ITU Kaleidoscope

DRONE READINESS INDEX

1,2
Samuel Nzaramba , Rene Kabagamba , Aminata Garba , Kate Chandler 3
1
1

1 Carnegie Mellon University Africa, Kigali, Rwanda
2 Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
3 Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington D.C, USA
{snzaramba, rkabagamba}@africa.cmu.edu, aminata@ece.cmu.edu, kfc9@georgetown.edu

ABSTRACT project in Zanzibar using SenseFly drones, where the World Bank,
the Zanzibar commission of lands and the state of Zanzibar joined
This paper proposes a new model for evaluating the robustness of forces. The project is being completed in conjunction with the
the ecosystem for drone projects in a given country, considering State University of Zanzibar and involves training local geo-
nine factors ranging from the regulatory framework to economic spatial technicians in the use of drones and aerial image
and social impact. The objective of this study is to provide a tool processing. Images from the project are expected to be shared in
in the form of an index that can be used to gauge countries an open source geo-spatial platform.
readiness for drone projects. Governments, NGOs as well as Common characteristics among these established projects were
commercial drone companies can use the index to gain insights identified and used to chart out the elements of a drone readiness
into the possibilities of drones for non-military use. Notable index. This is a tool which can be used by governments, NGOs
successful projects using drones were used as a benchmark to and private companies to assess the preparedness of a country to
chart out the various components of the Drone Readiness Index adopt drones for commercial projects.
(DRI). We first reviewed selected projects that have attempted to In the study of drone governance [3], the authors discuss the
use drone aircrafts for non-military activities, using secondary present regulatory framework in different parts of the world
data. We then quantify the elements of the drone ecosystem and focusing on existing rules, policy dialogue, regulatory void, and
present derivations of the proposed drone readiness index. To enforcement. The present work goes a step further to consider
show applications and examples of the proposed drone readiness other factors that make up a drone ecosystem. These include the
index, we compute the values of the drone readiness index for overall environment for the technology adoption; the
selected African countries. These values are further presented in a infrastructure and skills; the usage of the technology as can be
website [1]. seen from the projects in place; and finally the impact that the use
of the technology has both on an economic and social standpoint.
Keywords – Communications and control technologies,
drones, drone ecosystem, readiness index Our work also freely borrowed ideas from the Networked
Readiness Index (NRI) devised by the World Economic Forum
1. INTRODUCTION [4]. The Networked Readiness Index (NRI) is used as tool to
assess the preparedness of a country to benefit from emerging
technologies and capitalize on the opportunities represented by
Aside from their use for military purposes, drone aircrafts are digital transformation. The Drone Readiness Index similarly asks
increasingly being used for a range of civilian purposes including whether a country has the necessary drivers to initiate drone
land mapping, wildlife monitoring and protection, delivery of projects and whether these projects impact society both
medical supplies among others. Recreational drones are also used economically and socially. As with the Network Readiness Index,
for private aerial photography. the components of the Drone Readiness Index were grouped into
African countries are taking advantage of this technology in an four sub-categories. While the Network Readiness Index has a
effort to improve the lives of their people through innovation. broader focus and coverage in terms of number of countries
Drones provide an opportunity to use aerial platforms for reviewed and technologies considered our work has a narrower
development, which include the possibility of community based focus on drone technology. Moreover, due to non-availability of
projects based on the low cost of drones, as well as opportunities data, we first applied the proposed Drone Readiness Index to a
to access areas with limited transportation infrastructure in rural limited number of countries.
areas of Africa.
For example, Zipline launched its drone delivery project in 2. METHODOLOGY
Rwanda in October 2016 with the support of the government [2].
Zipline drones deliver blood to 21 hospitals around the country (as Our approach to the development of the drone readiness index
of August 2017) and use GSM technology for communication involved:
during flight with the base station, as well as GPS for navigation. 1. Collecting data from drone projects to understand, assess and
A number of factors were identified as being critical to the identify the various factors that contribute to the success of
implementation of Zipline blood delivery project such as the drone projects that are currently operating.
regulatory framework, government investment in the form of 2. After reviewing various projects employing drones, the key
utilities like power, fiber optic connectivity, and availability of factors used for the design and development of the Drone
skilled local capacity that could provide support to their Readiness Index were identified.
operations. Another example is WeRobotics which established 3. The selected factors were grouped into four categories that
Tanzania Flying labs to spearhead innovative projects for social represent the components central to the success of drone
good in Tanzania. Also, Drone Adventures carried out a mapping projects. These categories are explained in details in latter

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