UN agencies work to balance risks and benefits of drone use

SAN FRANCISCO — A range of United Nations agencies are already exploring use cases for unmanned aerial vehicles, actively using drones in their work, or focusing on the regulatory environment that will be needed for drones for good to take flight. One of the barriers that stands in the way of more drones reaching impact at scale is a clash of cultures between agencies experimenting with the tech and those tasked with creating guidance on its safe use. International development professionals are excited about the ways UAVs can advance their work in global health, foreign aid, and humanitarian response. Those who come from an aviation background, meanwhile, are more likely to prioritize safety and guidelines first. Representatives from both ends of the spectrum — including the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and the International Civil Aviation Organization, a specialized agency of the U.N. — joined Devex in this webinar to discuss their work on drones and the need to balance humanitarian benefits with safety. Gabriela Alvarado, chief of WFP’s IT emergency preparedness and response unit, explained how WFP’s work on drones builds on a background in air services that is central to its operations. The agency is working to adapt best practices from its work in aviation and bringing those ideas to drones, she said. Alvarado stressed the importance of recognizing and building local capacity — so that agencies can work with partners on the ground versus having to bring in outside expertise — something UNICEF is also tackling in its work in the space. Jaime Archundia, global drones lead at UNICEF’s office of innovation, provided updates on the agency’s active drone implementations, including the world’s first drone corridor for humanitarian cases in Malawi, and an expanding network of drone testing corridors starting in Kazakhstan and expanding to countries including Namibia and Sierra Leone. He also previewed UNICEF’s plans to launch an African Drone Academy in Malawi this summer. WFP and UNICEF are just two examples of U.N. agencies using drones in their work, with other examples including the U.N. Development Programme and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. But they are working directly with governments to come up with flexible regulatory schemes, which poses a challenge to ICAO. ICAO set up the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems section of its operations in response to the growing use of drones, said JC Shine, technical officer for RPAS at ICAO. The experiments continue around the world, some making headlines and others happening behind closed doors, and ICAO is working to play catch up. ICAO has a task force focused on humanitarian relief and emergency operations that includes representatives from WFP and UNICEF. It is working on guidance materials that will serve as a decision tree to balance the benefits and risks of drones for good. But while the goal is to finalize these guidelines by September, that may not be fast enough, Shine said. “Our process of developing standard practices is behind,” she acknowledged. “We are not moving at the pace of technology and innovation.” Watch the full recording of the webinar below.