The use of drones for disaster relief – whether to deliver cargo, map terrain or assess structural damage – is growing, but fraught with challenges.
Whether delivering cargo to remote areas, mapping terrain or assessing structural damage, drones – usually associated with the military and sport – are being used more and more for humanitarian aid. But it turns out that using drones for good isn’t so simple.
On May 15, experts convened in Cambridge, Massachusetts to develop much-needed guidelines for this emerging application of a powerful technology. The event was run by Swiss-American non-profit WeRobotics, and hosted by swissnex Boston as part of its new event series, Aerial Futures: The Drone Frontier.
Participants came from humanitarian organisations like the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), universities including Harvard and MIT, tech companies, and local government.
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