Niklas speaks with Santiago Pinzon, the founder and CEO of ORKID.
ORKID aims to revolutionize healthcare in Latin America through autonomous drone delivery. In this episode, we talk about technological and regulatory challenges in the aviation industry, and how to unlock a future of rapid logistics.
Aviation is a fascinating industry that has developed high safety standards and technology that leads to extremely safe passenger flights.
However, we note something we call the "safety paradox". High safety standards lock in old technology to the detriment of experimentation with new technology, which could, inadvertently be even safe and have massive benefits.
The developed world has made it very hard for the commercial drone industry. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) applies the same standards to non-passenger drones as to passenger aircraft, i.e. drone delivery is regulated like an airline.
Standards developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) are not mandatory, but most countries abide by them because they lack the knowledge to assess new technologies or the willingness to try something new.
However, there are good news. A company named Zipline has been invited by a forward-thinking government administration in Rwanda to trial healthcare deliveries via drones. The success was amazing: reduced maternity mortality by 50-60%.
ORKID is close to a breakthrough with the regulator in Brazil, a country proud of its aviation industry, to start operations in Sao Paolo. Special jurisdictions like Prospera are similarly promising for drone adoption, and islands are a great use case.
The future of rapid logistics is coming, and ORKID is on the forefront!
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Ep. 24: Autonomous Drone Delivery in Latam, International Aviation Regulation and Bold Emerging Market Governments Leading the Way Towards Innovation w/ ORKID CEO Santiago Pinzon