It Takes a Village: Reflections On Joining the Flying Labs Network

By Bolivia Flying Labs

When we joined the Network in September 2021, we were not only welcomed with open arms by all the Flying Labs and WeRobotics but also received their support in many different ways. Flying Labs sent us videos to be presented at our launch event. In the video, they congratulated us for joining the network and expressed their willingness to share their acquired experience and work together on future projects. 

A special event was organized for International Women’s Day. We had as guests speakers Dania Montenegro and Ana Beltran from Panama Flying Labs and Maria Inés Díaz from Chile Flying Labs. Our guest speakers shared their experiences using drones for various projects during the event. Moreover, Bolivia Flying Labs, Panama Flying Labs, and Dominican Republic Flying Labs are working together on a regional IDB Lab project, "Digitization and technological optimization for SMEs in works supervision."

On WeShare, an internal knowledge-sharing platform provided by WeRobotics, accessible to all Flying Labs members, many resources and tools can be found. Training and capacity-strengthening courses to expand the team’s technical skills, an extensive use case library for projects and training carried out by different Flying Labs, templates and tools to better manage projects and business development can be found among many other resources. The amount of helpful information is substantial and extremely valuable.

Furthermore, through Slack, we can contact anyone from the network at any time. Important news and friendly reminders to join the webinars and knowledge-sharing sessions are shared on Slack. For example, thanks to a message shared from WeRobotics, we found out about the Wingtra Earth Day Challenge, where three fully-equipped WingtraOne GEN II were to be awarded to organizations with social or environmental purposes. As a result, we participated in this challenge, and with the great support received from our country, all the Flying Labs in the network, and WeRobotics members, we were one of the winners of a WingtraOne GEN II. As a result, WintraOne will help us significantly implement a forest fire prevention project in one of the main areas in Bolivia that have been severely affected by this natural disaster in recent years.

We want to thank all the Flying Labs and WeRobotics members who voted and asked their family and friends to vote for us and shared our campaign on their social media. We would like to take this opportunity to let everybody know that we are grateful to those who sent us messages full of encouragement and warmth. They were fundamental in motivating us to reach our goals and made us feel that we are not only part of a great organization but that we belong to a fantastic family. Thank you! Follow us on Facebook to get updates about our upcoming projects and activities.