SGI Seminar Series with Olivier Defawe
Dr. Olivier Defawe
Unlocking Africa鈥檚 Skies: How Innovation Ecosystems Can Bridge the Infrastructure Gap with Drones
Africa鈥檚 public health and logistics systems face persistent challenges due to infrastructure gaps, supply chain inefficiencies, and geographical barriers. These obstacles limit access to essential medical supplies, delay disease response efforts, and create broader socio-economic constraints. While traditional infrastructure development struggles to keep pace, emerging technologies, particularly drones, are proving their potential to bypass these barriers and transform healthcare delivery, disaster response, and supply chain management.
However, technology alone is not enough. To move beyond small-scale pilot projects and achieve meaningful impact, we must foster interdisciplinary innovation ecosystems that bring together researchers, engineers, public health experts, policymakers, and industry leaders. This seminar will examine why and how drones and complementary technologies such as AI-driven logistics, automation, and data science should be integrated into sustainable public health and infrastructure strategies.
By showcasing real-world applications as well as the regulatory and financial challenges of scaling these technologies, we highlight the necessaity for a systematic, engineering-driven approach to technology adoption. The future of infrastructure is not just about roads and bridges. It is about building adaptive, technology-driven ecosystems that enhance resilience and equity in service delivery.
Date: Friday, March 28, 2025
Time: 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: Armstrong Building, Room 265
About the speaker
Dr. Olivier Defawe is a global health innovator specializing in private-sector engagement and transformative healthcare solutions for low- and middle-income countries. As a Director at VillageReach, he leads strategic partnerships and pioneered the integration of drone technology into public health, founding the Drones for Health program over a decade ago. His work has enabled successful drone operations in multiple African countries and now extends to market shaping and policy guidance for the drone industry. Dr. Defawe also founded the UAV for Payload Delivery Working Group, fostering global collaboration on drone use in healthcare. He holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Li猫ge, Belgium.
