“Medicine from the Sky”: ANRA Continues to Develop Drone Delivery Framework in India

ANRA Delivers ‘Medicine From The Sky’ in India

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

ANRA Technologies has announced its participation in India’s ‘Medicine From The Sky’ initiative. The project was spearheaded by the Emerging Technologies Wing of the India government Information Technology Electronics and Communications (ITE&C) Department, in partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF), NITI Aayog, a public policy think tank of the Government of India, and emergency and healthcare management services provider HealthNet Global.

The initiative utilizes drone technology in order to deliver medicine over long distances to locations that are difficult to access. With the support of the Indian Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Government of Telangana has launched trials to advance healthcare using this innovative technology.

With COVID-19 bringing to light long-term health inequities and inspiring consideration of how to deliver high-quality healthcare to all, delivery drones have emerged as a potential solution. ANRA and Marut Drones have partnered in order to form a team that will support trials for Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight operations in Telangana.

With valuable experience gained from ANRA’s recently completed BVLOS EOI trials, the Medicine From The Sky consortium will deploy with ANRA’s delivery and airspace management software connected to the drones, providing an entire ecosystem to ensure the drones will safely and efficiently deliver their cargo. ANRA’s delivery software provides a network that facilitates drone deliveries by managing orders, inventory, and provisioning products before operating the drone within the UTM network. The delivery software incorporates ANRA’s airspace management technology to enable safe flight routing for the drone while providing updates to the customer via mobile app. ANRA’s solution connects all stakeholders by providing vital information and data exchanges for compliant and efficient delivery operations.

ANRA uniquely allows the option of inserting one’s own drone hardware into a delivery network that includes technology to help develop a safety case to receive permission to fly BVLOS operations. All stakeholders in the supply chain have appropriate levels of access and credentials to view, control, and manage their respective tasks along the network, as well as situational awareness of inventory, package health status, and order progress.

ANRA is also currently building the UK’s first national distribution network using drones to transport blood, organs, and essential medical supplies throughout Scotland as part of the CAELUS project, which will help influence some of the demonstrated concepts.

This news follows ANRA’s recent closing of a multi-million dollar funding round led by a consortium of global investors that will accelerate the development and continued expansion of its software portfolio and grow its international team.

Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.