Drone Futures

World-Architects was introduced to Droneports, like a lot of people, at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, where Norman Foster installed a scale model of his brick-vaulted Droneport. The 2016 Droneport Project, initiated by EPFL-Afrotech and designed by Foster + Partners, was predicated on the poor road conditions in the area and the faster speeds that drones could deliver much-needed medical supplies via "highways in the sky," as well as the potential to create "civic hubs" around the Droneports.

The Lake Victoria Challenge was built on the 2016 Droneport Project and is a World Bank initiative "that aims to explore drones as a new mobility model for the hard-to-reach, rural communities of the Lake Victoria region." Following the Aerial Futures think-tank that took place in October 2018 in Mwanza, on the banks of Lake Victoria, the Lake Victoria Challenge will resume in November of this year with a flying competition addressing the area's mobility needs, followed by a symposium in December.