Death of child spurs drive for drone technology: Vaughan CEO

Yorkregion.com
July 13, 2017
By Lisa Queen

In an emotional encounter a couple of years ago, the chief of a remote First Nations community told Tony Di Benedetto about the death of a child.

Suffering from a respiratory illness, the youngster needed an inhaler, but there wasn’t one available in the village.

“For them to get a puffer there just-in-time was thousands of dollars to charter a plane or helicopter or whatever they needed to do,” Di Benedetto said.

The community had to wait until the next plane of supplies arrived several days later.

Unfortunately, by that time, the child had died.

Di Benedetto’s Vaughan-based company, Drone Delivery Canada, is working to make sure that never happens again.

Launched in 2014, the drone technology logistics company is working with governments and indigenous peoples to introduce drones capable of getting medicine, groceries and other items to Canada’s isolated communities.

“We said wouldn’t it be great if we can utilize this technology to bridge this gap that exists. People keep talking until they’re blue in the face that they’re going to build roads and infrastructure for these communities. The reality is, where are they going to get the money and how long is this going to take?” Di Benedetto said.

“But there’s a real problem today. Food, for example, in these communities is incredibly expensive … We said we can utilize drones to provide just-in-time access to goods and supplies.”

Not only will drones reduce transportation costs, but the operation will create jobs in remote communities, Di Benedetto said.

While others in the industry appear to be more focused on futuristic applications for drones, Drone Delivery Canada’s aim in northern Canada is more humanitarian, although it is also exploring profitable ideas with private companies.

“We believe this is the right place to start with this technology because not only is it innovative, is it unique and maybe one day it will deliver a pizza to your front door, maybe,” Di Benedetto said.

“But there is a real life application here for Canada’s north, where you can consider it humanitarian in what it’s doing. It’s a great place to start and it’s the right type of geography. We’re the leaders in this.”