French Island La Réunion Welcomes First Flying Labs in the Indian Ocean

Located above a hotspot in the Earth’s crust, with a tropical climate, a coral reef system, three calderas and two volcanoes, La Réunion could not but be our next stop in the Flying Labs’ exponential growth.

The first of its kind in the Indian Ocean, La Réunion Flying Labs spearheads from an initiative of Stéphane Pic, CEO and co-founder at USIO, a leading robotics and UAV network in the region, and Patrick Myotte, engineer and drone expert.

In line with WeRobotics’ philosophy of knowledge sharing, the first activities undertaken by the team are conferences and webinars to promote the use of robotics in social good and for the environment, as well as school curricula to develop models and sensitize youth on the potential of these emerging technologies.

The kick-off conference on “Drones for Social Good” was launched by USIO last June at Parc Technologique Universitaire in collaboration with Qualitropic, Esiroi and PoleMer, followed by a forum on maritime drones in collaboration with Thales Group, Bretagne-Atlantic Sea Hub, and SeaTestBase. A third inaugural event was also held to discuss clean energy with Sunbirds, the company behind one of the very first solar aerial drones.

Medical cargo and cyclones hazard management will also be part of La Réunion’s local efforts. On one hand, the Labs will develop tools and processes to compensate the lack of medical infrastructures to guarantee assistance to remote populations in case of emergencies. On the other hand, the team will offer cross-sectional expertise and networking access to local players in the Indian Ocean to propose effective robotic solutions for disaster management.

La Réunion Flying Labs is supported by several local partners, including La Technopole de la Réunion, La Réunion French Tech, AETOS Cluster Drones, Simplon, Avéliance Conseil, Flying Babouk, Valea Conseil, Solidarnum, Run Fablab, Skybirdsview, TexysMarine Ocean and Herotechhub.

We are ecstatic about this uniquely nimble Flying Labs in one of the most beautiful yet vulnerable volcanic islands in the Indian Ocean and can’t wait to share more news about their upcoming social good and environmental projects.

Please join us in welcoming La Réunion’s team to our network of inspiring local experts across the world.