The Kenya Drone Week is scheduled from May 29th to June 4th, 2022. There will entail the Drone Conference on 30th May &31st June in Nairobi’s KICC and last-mile medical Delivery from 1st June to 4th June 2022 at Konza Smart City in Machakos county. This event will be an opportunity to share knowledge on the role drones can play in Kenya. “As Konza Technopolis, we are glad to participate and support the Kenya Drone Week Expo which is anchored on innovation and technology development which are some of the key pillars in our development. We see this sector as key in transforming our economy because it enables emerging solutions in the 4th industrial revolution,” said John Tanui, CEO of KoTDA. Drone Space began in 2020, after opting to research and understand how drones can be safely utilized. Then in turn trained Kenyans to gain skills and maximize drone technology. More than 120 Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) pilots have been issued remote pilot licenses after receiving drone operation training from KCAA-approved institutions. The commercial use of drones has been steadily increasing across the filming, agriculture, surveillance, mapping, and data collection fields since the lifting of their ban temporarily in Kenya. Different companies;2 from Germany,1 from the USA,1 from Belgium, and 1 from India will be expected during the drone week and data expo, and local companies who have certifications are also expected to conduct training. Drone space has also invited its competitors i.e Kenya airways to showcase what they are doing. According to CEO, Antony Mwangi, “Transporting of medicine and vaccines to rural areas has been difficult. Many people in rural areas are not able to be treated because they are not able to get medicine. We trying to demonstrate to the government to get approval and get other players to be able to use drones to deliver medicine in different counties in Kenya.” Financial times ranked Kenya as the largest home for the fast-growing companies in Africa. Most startups have achieved tremendous growth mainly through the use of ICT to drive innovation in their respective sectors. Drone’s week will tour the strengths of the sector and will be able to plan for the next phase for this sector. As the first time in the region and being an emerging technology, it will create a possibility that Kenya and Africa will play a bigger role on the global stage. “On our digital economy strategy, we are emphasizing a lot more on innovation and entrepreneurship. Let’s focus on bringing more innovation and through Konza Technopolies we will be encouraging more innovation and startups and provide an enabling environment, “PS, Ministry of ICT emphasized.
