DAVMA and WeRobotics Partner Up to Advance Drones and Air Mobility in the Global South

WeRobotics and the Drone & Vertical Mobility Academy (DAVMA) are excited to announce their partnership to advance drones and air mobility in Africa, Latin America, and Asia/Pacific. 

DAVMA is a project of the Mobility Academy of the Touring Club Suisse. It is supported by FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile), the global association of Mobility & Sports Clubs with over 255 Member Clubs totaling approximately 90 Million members that support the global exchange of knowledge between Member Clubs. 

WeRobotics co-creates and facilitates the Flying Labs Network, a global network of independent knowledge hubs convening local experts in professional drone, data, robotics, and AI services for the social good sector. 

Both DAVMA and WeRobotics are non-profit organizations. They are supporting global networks and members to advance the use of drones through open knowledge sharing and collaborations. Both believe in a bottom-up and ecosystem approach, where the local mobility clubs, Flying Labs, and their members decide on their agendas and partnerships. Both networks and their members aim to strengthen local capacity through training, advocacy, and projects such as a wide variety of drone mapping projects and medical drone logistics.

The fundamental goal of this new partnership? Together, DAVMA and WeRobotics want to support the local collaboration of Clubs with Flying Labs, help Flying Labs with Club knowledge and resources in the mobility sector, and assist Clubs that wish to become part of an existing Flying Labs or host a new Flying Labs.

Nicolas Brieger, Head of the Drone & Vertical Mobility Academy, says: “Our number one goal is to empower local FIA Member Clubs by using drones as tools and by transferring knowledge between clubs. Working with WeRobotics and the Flying Labs Network supports this goal as we can tap existing local knowledge and enable Clubs to collaborate with Flying Labs.” From her side, Sonja Betschart, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of WeRobotics, adds: “One of our key activities is to facilitate global and local drone and data ecosystems. Partnerships, both on our and Flying Labs’ level, allow all involved in growing faster and more sustainably and expand the local use of drone technologies, fully led by local organizations and experts.”

We look forward to starting 2023 with the many opportunities and possibilities this new partnership brings to local mobility clubs and Flying Labs in Africa, Latin America, and Asia/Pacific. Our first activities will consist of joint webinars and bringing together the local clubs and Flying Labs with the highest potential for cooperation.

About WeRobotics and the Flying Labs Network

WeRobotics is a social impact organization that elevates and strengthens expertise in drone, data, and related AI technologies with the Flying Labs Network. Collaborating with community partners in the humanitarian, health, environment, and development sectors, each Flying Lab enhances local-level capacity and technology expertise, implements sustainable solutions within their communities, contributes to local ecosystems, and shares learnings across the Network to catalyze positive impact. 

More than a tech nonprofit, WeRobotics is a movement activating local experts and organizations around the globe to equitably and inclusively apply emerging technologies to achieve global aspirations, including the Sustainable Development Goals.  

About the Drone & Vertical Mobility Academy

Over the past years, the mobility sector has seen an array of new technologies, services, and companies marking a major transformation in individual mobility. The rise of electric cars, the birth of transport network companies with their unique ways of business, and the ongoing automation of vehicles on our roads are now mirrored by an “elevation” of passenger and goods transport into the air. Led by Switzerland’s TCS, the Drone and Vertical Mobility Academy (DAVMA) is a center of excellence that acts as the FIA’s clearing-house for all aspects relating to the professional and private use of drones and other Advanced Air Mobility vehicles: Supporting more than 250 Member Clubs of the FIA worldwide to enter the drone & vertical mobility industry; building expertise and create awareness amongst FIA bodies and member clubs; advising regulators and help to shape national and international drone policies; innovating the vertical mobility market and help to develop new business. Clubs are perfectly positioned to ensure global accessibility of drones in support of Mobility, and the DAVMA is there to support them.