No Roads? No Problem: The Leapfrogging Drones of Rwanda

IMF Blog, January 12, 2018

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Zipline deploys drones to make emergency medical deliveries to remote hospitals and clinics in Rwanda.
Photo caption: Zipline drone on a launch pad at operations center in Muhanda, Rwanda. (photo: James Akena/Reuters/Newscom).

Core idea: “Find a solution that doesn’t require infrastructure.”
Leapfrogging example: “Obviously in instances where Zipline can make a delivery to a place that wouldn't otherwise be reachable by roads, that's a good example of leapfrogging over the absence of infrastructure,” — Keller Rinaudo (Zipline CEO).

Rwanda offered an opportunity to partner with a government that “had a specific vision for how automated and instant delivery could have a meaningful impact.”
Outcome claimed by Zipline leadership: “By working together, we were essentially able to show that this technology can actually make it possible to increase access to really crucial medical products while actually reducing waste and saving lives,” — Keller Rinaudo.

Suggested suitability for:
- Archipelago nations.
- Countries in the Middle East with significant distance-gaps between cities.
“All over the place it's a different flavor of infrastructure challenge but still applicable to the way that you can leapfrog the traditional solution to logistics and try and fly things in the air,” — Matthew Steckman (Chief Revenue Officer).

Rinaudo credits the Rwandan government for willingness to experiment with new technology to solve a development issue.
Rinaudo on countries that adopt leapfrogging: “I think that a lot of the countries that you see taking these leapfrogging opportunities today are the ones where that spirit of entrepreneurship is really strong.”
On responsibilities for global problems: “These global problems that affect billions of people are not the responsibility of only foreign aid organizations or non-profits. They are fundamentally the responsibility of all of us and they’re also a huge economic opportunity for start-ups,” — Keller Rinaudo.

Keller Rinaudo discussed the development opportunities that technology offers in Africa at the 2017 IMF World-Bank Annual Meetings.
Publication date: January 12, 2018.

Source: No Roads? No Problem: The Leapfrogging Drones of Rwanda (IMF blog post).