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There has always been this underlying fear that robots or technology will one day take over the world. The latest conversation around this topic is regarding drones and how they are potentially replacing or automating jobs worldwide. This article is not aimed at intimidating or overstating the facts, but rather to shed some light into the conversation revolving drones and the impact it would have on people in a larger business sense.

For many years now drones have been used in the military or in the toy market, however as they grow in popularity and innovation they are quickly moving from novelty items to valuable business tools and this anxiety around technology taking over is swiftly nearing it’s turning point - worldwide.

It is true that drones affect multiple industries from agriculture, communications, filmmaking, insurance, media and entertainment, mining, security and surveillance, transportation and many others – each with their own needs and variety of drone functionalities to put to use. Drones are becoming increasingly significant in our daily lives. However, it is not the growing popularity and innovative technology in question, but rather the impact on human labour and jobs.

Some might argue that we do not know the impact of this technological leap, looking at smartphones and their current global impact we would never have guessed this success in the infancy of the development – are drones not heading in the same global direction? Drones are impacting business operations and companies locally and abroad – effectively solving business challenges with more success and less labour.

According to a case study performed by PwC in May 2016, the commercial use of drones is valued at $127 Billion in replacing human labour with drone driven solutions.

Don’t freak out! Drones will replace some jobs, but on a larger scale realistically would cause job displacement for the workforce. One aspect to consider is that drones need operators. Uses for drones will also continue to grow and expand along with the drones themselves, ever improving and evolving. Therefor new (or different types of) jobs will be created.

“One drone delivering parcels probably provides as much work for the operator as a courier van does for a driver.” – Adrian Schofield (ICT analyst).

IMPLICATIONS FOR US LOCALLY:

In 2015 SA was one of the first countries in the world to regulate commercial drone use. Drones carry many benefits for Africa itself, one being agriculture (such as pesticide distribution or data gathering). In the Kruger National Park drones are used for poaching surveillance. Other functions such as transportation have also been used locally – at great success.

You see the answer regarding “is it taking my job” is about displacement rather than replacement all together. In the end drones will create more jobs than what they replace – enabling us to do more than what we can imagine or are currently capable of.

We were very excited to be invited to join in on a Qhubeka Distribution Day Ceremony, which took place in Alexandra today.

The City of Jo’burg and Qhubeka have been working together to develop a bicycle distribution program to help children travel to school faster and more safely, thereby boosting their attendance through increased mobility. Alexandra was identified as an area for bicycle distribution by the City of Joburg due to the cycling corridor that is being constructed between Alex and Sandton.

The Ceremony included speeches from relevant parties that have helped make the bicycle distribution possible in Alexandra including the corporate donors Fluor, Tarsus and AutoTrader. What really stood out from the speeches is that in order for this bicycle program to be sustainable there is a need for the entire community to be part of the process from the children, their parents, the school through to the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (to make sure the roads are safe for the children to ride to school) as well as the SA Police Service.

Kwabhekilanga Secondary School was chosen to receive the bicycles today based on its position as the highest-performing school in Alexandra in terms of Matric pass rate in both 2014 and 2015, and because the majority of schoolchildren currently walk to school. A total of 50 children were present at the Ceremony to receive the bicycles. In total, 350 bicycles will be allocated to school learners (280 bicycles) and adults (70 bicycles) in Alexandra.

It was really great to see what a difference all donations to the Qhubeka non-profit organisation is making in communities such as Alexandra. If you would like to make a donation to Qhubeka, please click here for more details.

For further information about the Alexandra Bicycle Distribution Program, please click here.

Joburg2Kili expedition cyclists Warrick and Camilla Kernes and Gareth Pickering were recently interviewed by Jon Gericke (@bbjsportguy) on the SAfm Sports Special in-between the SA vs Ireland rugby match (which thankfully the Bokke won!).

Thank you to SAfm for sharing our expedition with your listeners to help spread the word about our initiative. If you missed out on the interview, you can listen by clicking on the links below (courtesy of Newsclip):

Listen to the Podcasts here.

This morning the MD of ActionGear, Warrick Kernes, was interviewed on the “Blewitt for Breakfast show” on Mix FM 93.8to chat about the upcoming expedition #joburg2kili to raise funds for Qhubeka. If you missed out on it here is a recording of the interview – enjoy!

It’s funny to see people reactions when we tell them that we’re cycling 4,630km up Africa on single speed bikes. Some say “you’re mad!”, some say “I wish I could join you!” and then there’s Gareth Pickering who simply said: “Can I come?”

Gareth has spent the last few years travelling the world and fighting for his freedom as you can read about on his website (www.TheFreedomFighter.net). He was about to head off back to South East Asia when he heard about the Joburg2Kili expedition and it took him no time at all to decide that he wanted to join in. We’re thrilled to have another seasoned traveler on the team (Bobby Fuller has traveled most of the world too!) and another crazy person who’s willing to take on the challenge of cycling a 23kg single speed Qhubeka Buffalo bike thousands of kilometers for a good cause.

Welcome to the team Gareth! As you’ve already bought your bike there’s no backing out now ;)

Please support Gareth and the rest of the team by donating to Qhubeka today.