New Uganda Flying Labs Builds Collaborative Frameworks to Solve Local Issues

Next to Tanzania and Kenya, our Flying Labs’ footprint in Eastern Africa is expanding with the new launch of Uganda Flying Labs.

In partnership with OpenStreetMap and Drone Nerds Africa, Uganda Flying Labs aims at solving local challenges and needs through the use of appropriate robotics and supportive technologies, with focus on hardware, software and services. Their goal is to build a collaborative framework around the use of robotics for community building and knowledge sharing.

In particular, Uganda Flying Labs will work on education initiatives, such as training drone pilots, demonstrating drone operations and programming, training staff and organizations in planning and executing drone missions, data analysis, mapping and modelling applications.

Headed by Deogratius Kiggudde, HOT’s Operations Manager, the team includes Tinah Mutabazi, current Executive Director at OpenStreetMap Uganda; John Goslino, Business & Development Manager and Project Lead at Drone Nerds Africa; Asaph Kasujja, one of Uganda’s top videographer and drone experts, and Silver Kayondo, lawyer and co-founder of Drone Nerds Africa.

The team has already been engaged by the World Bank to survey an area of 137 km along the power transmission infrastructure between Kawanda and Masaka in central Uganda for performance and risk assessment. One of the key objectives is to understand human conditions along the power line corridor, and provide response strategies.

In Rhino Camp, Uganda Flying Labs aims at unearthing issues, testing robotics solutions and generating knowledge to entice organizations and refugee communities to make collaborative decisions within and across the settlement’s sub-systems. In similar contexts, such as the rapid expansion and change of urban slums, Uganda Flying Labs’ ultimate goal is to ensure that the establishment of collaborative frameworks to encourage the participation of all stakeholders will eventually lead to a more sustainable living environment for its people.

Join us in welcoming Uganda Flying Labs to our African network and stay tuned for updates on their successful missions.