The Challenge
One of the major reasons for resource constraint issues in healthcare facilities of the rural world is the low frequency of transportation options available, clubbed with bad roads, traffic snarls, weather conditions, etc. The absence of organized and efficient logistic options leads to limited medical care. Emergency medical care and the supply of short-lived medicine are slow and difficult as transportation takes more than six hours in some of the remote parts of the state.
The Smart Village Solution
Drone delivery of critical resources to remote rural and forested areas to help bring medical supplies where and when needed most.
TechEagle is India’s pioneer and leading manufacturer of long range, high-speed, heavy payload delivery drone solutions. Founded in 2015 by IIT Kanpur alumni, It became one of the very first companies to receive approvals from DGCA, MoCA, AAI & MHA to conduct Beyond Visual Line of Sight ( BVLOS) trials for package delivery via Drones in India.
About TechEagle
Scope of Innovation
Under the Meghalaya Health Policy 2021, the state government is exploring the prospects of using drone deliveries in its healthcare system. The Department of Health and Family Welfare, in partnership with the Smart Village Movement has rationalised this need through a proposed pilot demonstration to study the feasibility and viability of the said technologies in the remote areas of the state.
BACKGROUND
The precedent for drone logistics, in recent times in healthcare, took shape with the ‘Medicines from Sky’ project, conceived by the World Economic Forum and outlines the requirements for drone delivery. The state of Meghalaya intends to implement drones for last-mile delivery and plans to integrate them into the state’s healthcare supply chain (State Health Policy 2021).
Supporting time critical medical supply items: Plasma, platelets and blood units, vaccines, diagnostic specimens, etc.
Pilot Area
Two locations in the South West Khasi Hills district (Mawkyrwat CHC to Ranikor CHC), have been deemed fit by the Government covering an aerial distance of 12.4 km. As the demonstration location is within the 25 km radius of the international border (Bangladesh), requests for exemptions have been placed before various Ministries of the Central Government.
Nature of Collaboration
Phase1: Demonstration of Technology To establish the use and feasibility of the drone solution for the Department of Health and Family Welfare, a one- week demonstration program at a real location with real payload for a 25km distance is to be conducted.
Post approval from all relevant stakeholders, the State government would need to take the approval to conduct 2- 3 Days aerial demonstration where TechEagle would provide the end to end turnkey solution.
Phase2: Setting up 1 Main Hub and 5 delivery Hubs Post successful completion of Phase 1, There will be 5 fixed routes planned with minimal risk and the state government with TechEagle will apply for airspace approval for the timespan of 6 months.
Project Data
Project Outcomes & Impact
SAVING & IMPROVING HUMAN LIVES: THIS PROJECT WILL HELP TRANSPORT THE ESSENTIAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL ITEMS TO SAVE HUMAN LIVES WHICH ARE ENDANGERED DUE TO NON-AVAILABILITY OF BLOOD, PLATELETS, VACCINE,
ANTI-VENOM AND OTHER CRITICAL MEDICINES.
FIVE TIMES FASTER DELIVERY– DELIVERY DRONES CARRY PACKAGES TO THE DESIRED SETPOINT WITHOUT GETTING
AFFECTED BY ROAD TRAFFIC CONJUNCTION AND ON A PLANNED OPTIMIZED ROUTE. CUSTOMERS WILL GET THEIR
DELIVERY IN LESS THAN 30 MINS.
AFFORDABLE COST – DRONE SHIPPING HAS SEVERAL BENEFITS FOR BOTH BUSINESSES AND CUSTOMERS. DELIVERY TIMES ARE REDUCED FROM TWO TO THREE DAYS, DOWN TO MINUTES. THERE IS REDUCED DAMAGE TO A PACKAGE
DURING TRANSIT AND HANDLING AS DRONE FLIGHT IS SMOOTH AND UNHINDERED.
JOB CREATION- IN A LATER STAGE, TECHEAGLE WILL START GIVING TRAINING TO THE LOCAL PEOPLE TO OPERATE
ESTABLISHED DRONE DELIVERY NETWORKS. EVENTUALLY THOSE PEOPLE WILL BE HANDLING THE COMPLETE
NETWORK, AND THIS WILL LEAD TO THE SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND JOB CREATION IN MEGHALAYA.
REDUCED ROAD CONGESTION – COMPANIES ARE LOOKING INTO DRONE TECHNOLOGY TO DO DELIVERY TASKS. LESSER
DELIVERY TRUCKS OR VANS ON THE ROAD WILL DRASTICALLY HELP IN REDUCING THE ROAD CONGESTION.
REDUCED ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION – DELIVERY DRONES ARE ELECTRICALLY POWERED COMPARED TO DELIVERY TRUCKS AND ARE ALSO MORE EFFICIENT. DRONES WILL DRASTICALLY REDUCE CARBON EMISSION HENCE PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT TO SOME EXTENT
The SVM Platform
The SVM-Berkeley curated open innovation platform builds an Open Innovation ecosystem that connects the villager’s challenges to corporates, academic research, and state governments.
We help leverage shared capital and operational resources with co-innovation and collaborative engagements bringing optimum solutions to rural challenges.
Our Vision
A shift to high-quality healthcare for remote rural areas in Meghalaya and one day all over India & the world.
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