Africa-Press – Botswana. Drones technology can help Botswana make informed and strategic decisions in many aspects of lives, especially sectors such as health, transportation, infrastructure development and maintenance, disaster response and emergency services as well as agriculture and tourism, says Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane.
Mr Tsogwane was officially opening the Drones Assembly and Testing Centre at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology in Palapye yesterday.
“It is only proper that we must say it in one voice to commend both BIUST and the Mileage Group for this initiative of enterprise development. This is an act of investment in local innovative industries and the large-scale future of our economy,” he said.
He said about three years ago, BIUST partnered with a drones company from The Netherlands called Avy Technologies, to experiment with drones for medical deliveries from Palapye to different destinations. The initiative, he said, turned out to be a huge success from the perspective of efficiency and productivity and it gave proof that drones could perform tasks much faster and cheaper, and more efficiently than traditional delivery methods.
Mr Tsogwane said the pursuit of a knowledge-based economy called for quality of human capital required by new and modern-day industries which were anchored on creativity and innovation.
For that reason, he said he was inspired by the anticipation that the centre would lead to the deployment of own-initiated drone technologies, to spur innovation and create new opportunities for economic growth in Botswana.
Mr Tsogwane said the centre would further provide researchers with a perfect playground to excite their curiosity to access remote and inaccessible areas in Botswana’s vast geography.
“From studying wildlife patterns in our national parks and game reserves to monitoring environmental changes across the different terrains of Botswana in difficult-to-reach locations, drones enable researchers to collect data and gather insights from areas that were previously inaccessible,” said Mr Tsogwane.
The Vice President said the Mileage Group was already a key player in the agriculture space through various applications in Botswana and their deep involvement in the project spoke volumes about their commitment to converge their business enterprise with the academia in the country.
“As a predominantly agricultural society, albeit at a subsistence scale, the advent of drone technology has proven to be such an important innovation, which will transform the way we have been conducting our business in that sector,” said Mr Tsogwane, adding that the partnership between BIUST and the Mileage Group was a living testament of what university and industry collaborations were meant to be.
“At the heart of academia and industry collaboration we find a niche for knowledge transfer and the commercialisation of research,” he said.
As such, he said there was no doubt that the centre would facilitate the transfer of knowledge, expertise, and technology between BIUST researchers and the private sector drive of the Mileage Group.
Located within the university campus, the Assembly and Testing Centre will provide a continuous knowledge-based workforce development and a reliable talent pipeline which will produce fit-for-purpose graduates into the market.
Mr Tsogwane congratulated both the Mileage Group and BIUST for having adopted the vision to collaborate through a project of such immense national importance, noting that the establishment of the state-of-the-art facility underscored the importance attached to public -private partnerships in driving technological innovation and economic growth in Botswana.
Mileage Group CEO, Mr Miles Nan said Botswana’s unique geographical position underscored the vital importance of drone technology. He said the applications of drones were vast and varied, encompassing agricultural uses, mining, energy, security, wildlife conservation, and border control.
BIUST vice chancellor, Professor Otlogetswe Totolo said their relationship with the Mileage Group had rapidly blossomed, leaving a trail of notable achievements along the way.
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