UPS Wants To Test Drone Delivery In .... Rwanda?

(RTTNews) - The UPS Foundation, the charitable division of United Parcel Service (UPS), has partnered with Zipline, a California-based robotics company, and Gavi, a distributor of vaccines, to deliver life-saving medicines and blood throughout Rawanda using drones.

The UPS Foundation has awarded an $800,000 grant to support the initial launch of this initiative in Rwanda.

"UPS is always exploring innovative ways to enhance humanitarian logistics to help save lives, and we're proud to partner with Gavi and Zipline as we explore ways to extend the Rwandan government's innovations at a global scale," said Eduardo Martinez, president The UPS Foundation and chief diversity and inclusion officer at UPS.

The Rwandan government will begin using Zipline drones, which can make up to 150 deliveries per day of life-saving blood to 21 transfusing facilities located in the western half of the country.

Amazon, Walmart, Google and Dominos Pizza have all started testing delivery services using a drone. However, its for the first time UPS is using drones for a humanitarian work.