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Showing posts from November, 2018

The economics of the delivery drone. Is it sustainable?

There's a lot of debate around the economic suitability of drones for the delivery of the goods as a direct competitor to traditional trucks and delivery vans. There's an article written by Flexport which highlights two crucial factors that makes drones delivery of general goods not feasible, even in the near future: (1) route density and (2) drop size. Route density is the number of drop-offs you can make on a delivery route and drop-size is the number of parcels per stop on that delivery route. Given the strict airspace regulations on drone size and weight, it has become quite evident, particularly in the African context, that the delivery of general goods will not be an economically viable option even though the obvious need might say otherwise.  However, further analysis and demonstration have shown, from companies like Matternet and others, that the transport of the time-sensitive and high-value parcels (legal-documents, medicine samples, high-value spices,

The war against the blue-green algae

We've reviewed a document on the impact of the blue-green algae on the irrigation of the agricultural farmlands.  Our investigations follows the trend of the bursts of blue-green algae is the dams using for livestock and plants which has caused many illnesses to the farm workers and their families specifically in small-holding agricultural areas. So we've decided to undergo experimental research into the application of a low-cost drone solution for the analysis, prediction and the eventual eradication of the blue-green algae in dams which has a direct impact in the production yield of the both animals and plants. This research will comprise of the development of the remote sensing system which will generate data that will be used as inputs into a predictive model which will be used to help farmers make alternative plans well-before the blue-green algae has a financial impact the farms' operations and the safety of its workers. The proposal with be prese

Saving Africa's Innovation

We've reviewed a report by Deloitte discussing issues on how to leverage and protect Africa's innovation for future growth and economic stability. It was highlighted that the traditional focus on exploiting commodities hasn't yielded the redistribution of wealth or improve the standard of living for those working in that sector. Moreover, over 75% of economic activities happen in the informal sector (Nigeria statistics), which is exposed to the volatility that commodity markets are subjected to, which is detrimental to the impoverished communities. One of the major points which directly relates to our mission objective is the following quote from the report: " Yet, as much as innovation is important, there needs to be more focus on the final outcome of innovative solutions. "  In Africa, innovation is part of the daily survival. But it's usually unstructured, very often short-sighted and localized in it's application. Moreover, the growing yout