WeRobotics

WeRobotics is a Swiss-American global social impact organization with a non-profit status which helps communities globally leverage technology solutions that adapt to their local contexts and needs using civilian drones (UAVs), data and AI technologies, founded in 2015. Working with its funders and partners, the organization has a growing network of independent Flying Labs (41 at the end of 2023) operating in different corners of the World including Americas, Asia, Oceania, and Africa.

History
WeRobotics incorporated on December 15, 2015, as a 501c3 organization from a collaboration of two existing initiatives: UAViator and Drone Adventures, initiated by 4 Co-Founders: Sonja Betschart and Adam Klaptocz of Drone Adventures based in Switzerland, and Patrick Meier and Andrew Schroeder of UAViators based in the U.S.

In 2016, WeRobotics in partnership with Rockefeller Foundation tested the development of local knowledge hubs focused on drones and other robotics applications in three countries: Nepal, Tanzania and Peru, which resulted in setup of first Flying Labs. In 2017, WeRobotics started collaboration with USAID, Hewlett Foundation, IADB, and MIT Solve. In the same year, WeRobotics launched new Flying Labs in Fiji and Panama to explore activities in the South Pacific and Central America. In 2018, WeRobotics introduced its network model to allow for scale of the Flying Labs Network. By end of 2018, the network grew to 17 independent Flying Labs globally which further grew to 41 in December 2023, it has enlarged its funders and partners, adding to the list the Autodesk Foundation, IADB, Omidyar Network, Fondation Botnar, Jansen PrimeSteps Foundation, World Bank and WFP to mention few. In 2022, Sonja Betschart, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, was selected for Ashoka Fellow in Switzerland, and she appeared on 2024 list of 50 Over 50 by Forbes.

Vision and mission
Since 2015, WeRobotics invests in creation of sustainable and resilient local communities globally that are supported by local experts in civilian drones, data and AI technologies. In collaboration with local, and global actors it created Flying Labs Network with aim of allowing communities to leverage technology solutions that adapt to their local contexts and needs.

Impact and Activities
Since 2016, WeRobotics works with local communities to create local knowledge hubs, called Flying Labs, to support and train local partners to address local problems with technology solutions by deploying technology for local social good applications (defined as applications that link to one or several SDGs), including drone data collection & analysis and transportation.

2015-2020
In 2016, WeRobotics in Nepal established the Katmandu Flying Lab which helps in creating and supplying of maps during disasters like earthquakes and Landslides. In 2017, WeRobotics in Peru helped in addressing the Peruvian Amazon basin medical issues, and Amazon animal bites by rapid deployment of health care resources using UAVs. In March 2018, in collaboration with the Insect Pest Control Laboratory of the International Atomic Energy Agency and during a Zika virus outbreak, WeRobotics introduced 284,200 sterile male mosquitoes around Carnaíba do Sertão, Brazil, interrupting the reproductive behavior of the fertile mosquitoes.

In May 2018, WeRobotics ran event to update and expand the Humanitarian UAV Code of Conduct. In 2019, in partnership with Red Wing Labs, WeRobotics did a work for the U.S. Centre for Disease Control as a delivery in response to medical emergencies in Papua New Guinea. WeRobotics worked with the Red Cross in Fiji to map damage to buildings caused by Cyclone Keni.

2021-present
In 2021, the company released a children's picture book called Ariel & Friends about the use of drones for social good. Since 2022, Flying Labs in Uganda has been helping mitigate risks for coffee farmers by capturing multispectral and RGB imagery via drones with cameras to help spot crop health issues that are often invisible to the human eye alone. Flying Labs works with World Vision in implementation of various projects, like in large scale reforestation in Kenya in 2021, and in farmer-managed natural regeneration in Tanzania.

In May 2022, Kenyan Flying Labs with EPFL's Laboratory of Urban Transport Systems (LUTS), launched a joint experiment to test LUTS' innovative approach to traffic congestion in Nairobi. Flying Labs helps in surveying of land for irrigation and agriculture in Burkina Faso.