by MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – AN expert has welcomed the newly launched GoUAV (go-to-point unmanned aerial vehicle) Drone Dock Enablement Programme as meeting all criteria in South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) compliance.
GoUAV partners with clients to set up the mobile drone dock and train staff.
South African mines, estates, utility companies, independent power producers, ports, municipalities and others with a need for the full spectrum of remote aerial operations can now own and operate a CAA-compliant drone dock ground station in six to eight weeks.
Phil Smerkovitz, Managing Director of enterprise-class drone consultants, TeleEye SA, and founder of GoUAV.co.za, said the result is a legal and auditable aviation system from South Africa’s leading drone enterprise solutions provider.
It specialises in providing local firms, estates and property groups, with their own in-house drones, docking stations and software that runs entirely within one’s own information technology infrastructure.
“Bringing drone dock operations within the organisation helps organisations take control and better manage the costs of UAV operations. Large firms know their own installations better than anyone else,” Smerkovitz said.
Smerkovitz explained most organisations outsourced drone operations which led to high costs, delays, limited visibility, loss of critical data ownership and a narrow, limiting focus on security applications.
An in-house drone dock enablement programme enables local firms to take ownership of aerial operations.
Planning and executing drone missions, supervising the fleet and managing the resultant data can now all happen in-house.
Local industrial, mining, property, agricultural and municipal organisations no longer have to worry about reaching their maximum contracted flying time with an outsourced UAV provider, for example.
“Now, they can operate with an IT-compliant, self-contained, on-premise, secure enterprise drone management system with no internet or public cloud dependency, and no reliance on outsourced drone service providers who are often unaware of the enormous potential of drones beyond security applications,” Smerkovitz explained.
Launched almost a decade ago, GoUAV.co.za is regarded South Africa’s most established online portal dedicated to the innovative application of UAVs, aerial application software and accessories within key economic sectors.
– CAJ News