WeRobotics: Democratizing the Fourth Industrial Revolution

I just gave the opening Keynote at the prestigious 2016 International Drones & Robotics for Good Awards in Dubai. What an honor to keynote this truly unique event for a second time and return to the outstanding venue pictured below. And if that wasn’t exciting enough, the organizing team of the awards kindly invited us to launch our new international initiative, WeRobotics, which seeks to scale the impact of “Robotics for Good” in humanitarian aid, global development and environmental protection.

One reason why I’m so passionate about this new initiative is because it focuses explicitly on empowering local partners in developing countries with appropriate robotics solutions based on their needs and priorities. Our aim is to transfer both relevant skills and intelligent robotics solutions to our local partners so they can scale the impact of their own aid, development and environmental projects. In so doing, our local partners become an increasingly skilled, local workforce; one ready to meet the growing demand for robotics as a service in their countries. In sum, we seek to democratize the Fourth Industrial Revolution and thus reduce the inequality that comes with disruptive technologies.

Announcing the launch of a new global initiative is of course the easiest part. The hard work begins now in growing a global network of labs – Flying Labs – with leading technology partners and outstanding local partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Here’s how you can get involved and join this unique new effort. Onwards!