How can peer learning help Civil Aviation Authorities in Africa get the most out of drones?
This is a blog by the Frontier Tech Hub about our UAV Peer Action Group, an initiative with Drones Doing Good Alliance
Drones can be a force for good. At the Frontier Tech Hub (FT Hub), we’ve seen a wide range of examples of drones being used for positive social impact. These include monitoring reforestation efforts, spraying crops, surveying damage following a climate event, or delivering life saving medicines to clinics in remote areas. Many countries are grappling with how to keep up with advances in technology and how they might realise the full benefits drones offer, including fostering enterprise and job creation. At the same time, there is recognition of the need to uphold safety and security standards.
The challenges Civil Aviation Authorities face
Africa is leading the way in drone use and Civil Aviation Authorities (CAAs) are on the front line. CAAs are the national authorities which oversee the rules surrounding the use of civil aviation and airspace. In Africa, CAAs have been tasked with navigating demand (both from humanitarian and commercial actors, and hobbyists) and potential safety and security risks. There is no regulatory blueprint to follow yet CAAs in Africa are under pressure to enable increasing numbers of drone flights and to safely manage air traffic, including managing for the risk of bad actors who may use drones for illegal activities. The challenge today is for African CAAs to continue pioneering in this space - developing, testing and refining regulations that allow the benefits of drones to be reaped locally - while maintaining a high degree of safety and security.
This discussion paper shares some guiding principles on how safety, security and ethical questions might be navigated. By focussing on the sustainable growth and scaling of drone operations in healthcare logistics in Africa, it offers an overview of the key areas of concern, potential solutions and the associated trade-offs. It acknowledges that different contexts will call for different solutions.
The value of peer learning
Building on the momentum from the paper, the FT Hub in partnership with Drones Doing Good (DDG) convened a Peer Action Group for African Civil Aviation Authorities (CAAs). The purpose of this was to find ways to improve safety and security through a comprehensive and locally adapted approach. Since March 2023, the FT Hub has been providing coaching support and facilitating peer learning for representatives of CAAs from Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Rwanda, and Senegal. The group is proactively testing practical solutions, sharing findings via peer learning and exchange, and adopting and adapting best practices with help from DDG.
Participants are explored new approaches for online registration processes, Unmanned Aircraft Traffic Management systems, tracking, and separation of air traffic and drone corridors. The support provided includes interactive sessions to dig into the problems regulators are trying to solve, regular online coaching calls to support progress, and deep dives on the common themes arising across different contexts. The feedback indicates that participants value the opportunity presented by peer-to-peer learning; drawing insights from one another’s experiences and surfacing common questions and challenges.
Thanks to support from GIZ and Smart Africa, the group has been able to meet in person thrice; once in Germany in March 2023 to launch the group, again in Kigali in August 2023 to review progress, and most recently in Cote d’Ivoire in February 2024 to share results and discuss priorities for year 2. This also saw the group conduct a deep dive into technical questions and identify opportunities for future collaboration and exchange.
Shared priorities and common challenges
Discussions between participants of the group have highlighted similarities and differences in approaches but participants have recognised the benefits of consistency between countries. There is appetite amongst the group for future discussions on common standards, cross-border drone activities, and regional coordination on various topics. These include training standards for pilots, UAV licensing processes, charges passed onto operators, standardised commercial drone categories, and, more broadly, a standardised structure for drone regulations to make them easier to navigate for operators.
Resources
Read more about the initiative and access technical guidance, tools and lessons derived from countries’ active learning on the DDG website or listen to the team being interviewed on the Frontier Tech Hub podcast – The Drone Frontier.
This work is implemented through the UKaid funded Frontier Technologies Programme (DT Global, Results 4 Development and Brink) and delivered in partnership with Drones Doing Good.
