Our Vision

To leverage civilian uses of drones to meet the crucial needs of individuals and their communities, while ensuring safety and security.

Why it matters

Drones, also referred to as uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), can provide solutions to real-world challenges that were previously difficult to solve, like quickly mapping an area and assessing damage after a disaster, or addressing health supply chain bottlenecks where transport infrastructure is insufficient or insecure. However, the opportunities and limitations of drone technologies are not easy to identify and implement. A new technology cannot always be deployed out-of-a-box. In the case of drones, an ecosystem of supporting policies, infrastructure, regulations, and expertise are all needed to create a viable on-the-ground implementation.

Outsight International supports organisations and governments on their journey to leverage drones. Our assistance ranges from piloting a small scale UAS program to developing a national drone policy.

Our Approach

Blending Research, Strategy and Practicality

We have developed deep and specialised expertise to enable UAS operations and ecosystems for social good applications. We work with a network of experts for specialized tasks and we have developed our own methodology to rapidly assess feasibility of a program.

Outsight International uses the best available evidence to enable a UAS ecosystem and to operationalise UAS for real-world uses that serve the attainment of the sustainable development goals. We combine our sectoral experience with strategic thinking and research to incorporate the latest field developments.

We build teams based around the specific needs of a project. Much like a Hollywood movie builds its production teams to match the right talent with a particular production, Outsight compiles the right expertise to tackle the unique and complex challenges of our clients. Outsight has a proven track record of delivering projects, working with clients to complete our project deliverables through a blend of Associates, Advisors and Strategic Partners who are global leaders in Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the humanitarian and development space.

We work closely with our clients to understand their unique needs, and provide tailored solutions to meet their specific requirements.

Please contact us if you are interested in feasibility studies, strategy, capacity building, policy, regulatory support, or any of the following:

  • UAS Operational Approvals (enable UAS companies develop safety cases through SMS which enables complex UAS operations with in country’s airspace.)

  • Compliance Management (Developing manuals, procedures, and real-world systems to enable UAS operations.)

  • We also facilitate and organize UAS events, workshops, media outreach programs and competitions... within the UAS eco-system to enable growth of UAS sector in different countries and regions.

  • UAS Proof of Concept Development (develop different trends and techniques for UAS integration.)

Learn more about a particular service areas by clicking on on the below.

  • The integration of drone technologies in supply chain management has emerged as a viable tool for solving difficult supply chain and transport challenges. In environments where conventional transport infrastructure is absent, damaged, overtaxed, or where security is a challenge, drones offer the possibility of circumventing existing constraints.

    More details on our cargo drone and supply chain assistance, check our service offering.

  • The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) identified operator’s education and training as key challenges with regards to safe and secure UAS operations. Outsight International works directly with organisations to build their internal capacity to ensure safe, scaled, drone operations at any operational risk level. We have experience operating in low resource contexts, evaluating vendors and operators. We also provide capacity building through activities like mentoring, training workshops, webinars, drafting of training materials to inform and align stakeholders on common goals.

  • We have developed a unique feasibility study methodology that allows us to assess risks and opportunities in a given ecosystem rapidly, but comprehensively. Among other factors, our assessment comprises an assessment of existing infrastructure, stakeholders, transportation and supply chain needs, financing needs, policy and regulatory trends to determine the feasibility of drone operations and business models.

  • We work directly with Civil Aviation Authorities (CAAs) and ministries to identify and apply best practices in drone governance that are relevant to the specific country context. Our work includes drafting or revising technical elements of UAS regulations and developing procedures and training materials to support adherence to regulations.

  • With a big-picture view of the challenge in hand, we guide a collaborative effort to envision the target future state of an initiative. We help identify opportunities and address barriers. Based on the engagement and organisational needs, strategic roadmaps lean on technical mapping, needs assessments, feasibility assessments, regulatory and policy mapping, stakeholder mapping, capacity assessment, evaluation of business models, business cases, roadmaps or concepts of operations.

  • Market research and landscape analyses help generate insights, best practices, and emerging trends. It also help to map key stakeholders in the drone ecosystem, including technology providers, local partners, donors and government authorities. Additionally, we monitor and incorporate findings from sectoral reports, academic research, policy and program documentation, case studies.

  • Emerging technologies and pilot projects may have limited data supporting their impact. A solid monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system can provide evidence for decision making and support a case to scale, allowing organisations to maximise their impact, accountability and learning.

    For more information visit our Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) service page.

 
 

The Team

Possessing 75+ years of experience in the humanitarian and development space, Outsight works with NGOs, businesses and universities across the globe to identify Associates and Advisors to provide pathways into the drone or uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) sector for our team members as well as providing a number of personal and professional skills development opportunities.

Our subject matter experts cover all aspects of the uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) ecosystem. Our network also includes international and local experts in most humanitarian and development sectors.

 

Denise Soesilo
Drone Team Lead

Denise is an expert in unmanned aerial system (UAS) use in humanitarian and development settings. She has worked with donor agencies and development organizations, humanitarian and United Nations organisations, advising on the application and implementation of drone technologies. Denise served as the director of flight in the African Drone Forum - Lake Kivu Flying Competitions and implemented numerous other drone operations. Through her work, Denise has enabled the safe operations of nearly a dozen cargo drone companies. In addition, Denise has led the implementation of the European Union Humanitarian Aid innovation grant on drones in humanitarian action. Denise has authored several publications on UAS in development and humanitarian action.

Pablo Busto Caviedes
Drone Research and Policy

Trained and experienced in policy and legal research, Pablo has supported national Civil Aviation Authorities (CAAs) and multilateral organizations to identify best practices in drone regulations for civil use cases and advise policy-makers

Bo Jia
Drone Research and Policy

Bo has supported several digital agriculture projects, covering topics such as M&E, digital finance, e-commerce, drones, etc. His research helped push for more programmatic and strategic approaches to analyse digital products and investments in the organisation. He is also experienced in ecosystem mapping to identify potential investment opportunities and improve resource mobilisation.

 

Our Previous Projects & Publications

  • Intelligent systems and UAS. USAID Mid-term evaluation of health services UAS pilot activity in Madagascar.

  • Evaluation of AGORA, Strengthening humanitarian action in urban areas by promoting settlement approaches and effective engagement with local stakeholders.

  • Review of UAS regulation and rules in African Union Member States. Project led by the World Bank in partnership with the World Economic Forum, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), World Food Program (WFP), United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

  • Drones in Humanitarian Action. A guide to use of airborne systems in humanitarian crises. Fondation suisse de déminage (FSD), funded by the European Commission Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (DG ECHO) and Green Cross Switzerland.

  • Technical assistance to develop regulations and procedures for the civil aviation authority of Chad to enable health cargo operations, funded by the World Bank.

  • Drone Feasibility studyies in various countries.

  • Humanitarian air cargo market research.

  • Development of training materials.

  • Development of white papers and studies.