At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, KORE showed the enablement of IoT connectivity that is making it possible for Australian drone-powered logistics company Swoop Aero to transport Covid-19 vaccines into isolated areas of the world.

Swoop Aero’s air logistics enables the reliable transport of medical commodities, including early pathology samples, diagnosis kits, antiretroviral therapy medication and vitamins across Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Australia, UK and the Pacific. This effort supports ministries of health in delivering medical supplies to hard-to-reach areas.

“We’re living in the most technologically advanced society of all time,” said KORE CEO Romil Bahl. “I’m grateful every day that the IoT connectivity we provide is being used so that people in the remotest parts of the world are not forgotten or overlooked. Medical caregivers rely heavily on Swoop Aero’s ability to consistently transport the medicine that doctors and nurses need to care for citizens living in remote locations. Failure is not an option.”

Drone technology, paired with robust connectivity, is levelling the playing field for people who live in remote and rural regions of the world. Using medical drone logistics within the existing health supply chain enables better access to essential medical commodities with reduced human interaction. This is a primary reason why the use of drones within the health supply chain has exponentially increased in the wake of the pandemic and, as the world begins to reopen, represents the new normal.

Critical to the success of this endeavour are the satellite and cellular redundancy and failover systems KORE provides to ensure fleets of drones are consistently operational.

“The ability to communicate reliably anywhere in the world, anytime, allows Swoop Aero to deploy a reliable, sustainable and scalable drone logistics network bridging the last mile and enabling equitable health access to anyone anywhere,” said Swoop Aero CEO Eric Peck.

Swoop Aero is an Australian drone-powered logistics company, founded to transform the way the world moves essential supplies. Since its founding in 2017, Swoop Aero has worked with some of the largest organisations in global health, including Unicef, the Gates Foundation, UKAid, USAid and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.