The WeRobotics marks 10 years of co-creating technological solutions from the Global South and for the Global South, guided by a clear motto: Start local, become global, return local.
Opinion article written by:
Mgt. Ronald Beltrán Tórrez
Bolivia Flying LabsDr. Diego Ferruzzo
Brazil Flying Labs
For many years, a large share of technological solutions to the world’s most urgent problems were designed far from the territories where those problems actually occur. Climate change, wildfires, environmental degradation, food insecurity, and the lack of reliable data have often been addressed from headquarters in the Global North, using imported models that do not always align with local realities.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were conceived as a global agenda, but their design and implementation are deeply local. This leads to a key question:
how can we ensure that technology truly contributes to the SDGs in diverse, complex, and often vulnerable Global South contexts?
One of the most compelling answers to emerge in recent years is the Flying Labs global network, created by WeRobotics. Guided by the principle Start local, become global, return local, the network co-creates solutions with communities—local solutions with global potential—based on drone technology, data, and AI, serving the people and communities that need them most.
From “for” the territory to “from” the territory
The main distinction of the Flying Labs approach is not the technology itself, but the point from which it is co-created and implemented. Rather than importing technological solutions for communities, the focus is on building technological capacity from within communities, grounded in local knowledge and lived experience.
This shift is essential for generating real SDG impact. When technology is locally owned, it stops being an external tool and becomes a means to strengthen decision-making, territorial resilience, and long-term sustainability.
In this sense, the WeRobotics Flying Labs global network represents innovation not only at the technological level, but also at organizational and cultural levels.
Technology with real impact in Latin America
In Latin America, Flying Labs have shown that technological innovation can be deeply human when it is connected to real territorial needs.
Solutions co-created and tested in local communities are documented and shared across the network, allowing them to be replicated and improved, enriched by the knowledge, experiences, and needs of other regions around the world.In Bolivia, for example, the use of drones and geospatial data analysis has strengthened wildfire prevention initiatives, directly contributing to SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 15 (Life on Land). Technology has not been used merely to map, but to anticipate risks, support local decision-making, and generate evidence useful to both public and private stakeholders.
In Brazil, inspired by the Bolivian experience, the Flying Labs network has been working on projects related to environmental monitoring, territorial management, and community support, demonstrating how technology can scale its impact when local knowledge, trust, and inter-institutional collaboration are present.
In Peru, the Flying Labs network, in collaboration with private technology companies, transports medicines to remote communities, enabling medical care for residents who lack access to basic health services.
These examples share a common pattern: technology works when there is local ownership and a clear purpose.
SDGs are not achieved with hardware alone
One of the main lessons learned from implementing SDG-aligned projects within the Flying Labs network is that hardware alone is not enough. Drones, sensors, and digital platforms are enablers, but real impact occurs when three dimensions are integrated:
- Local capacity: co-creation of solutions, skills development, knowledge transfer, and territorial leadership grounded in local expertise and experience.
- Trust: long-term relationships with communities and institutions, ensuring sustainable and lasting solutions.
- Data governance: ethical, transparent, and context-aware use of information.
Flying Labs operate precisely at this intersection, where technology is not an end in itself, but a tool serving data-driven decision-making.
SDGs and South–South collaboration
Another defining feature of the Flying Labs model is its ability to promote South–South collaboration. Countries facing similar challenges share lessons, experiences, and solutions without relying exclusively on models from the Global North.
This collaboration is particularly relevant for achieving the SDGs, as it allows solutions to be adapted to contexts with similar budgetary, institutional, and logistical constraints. The Flying Labs network does not standardize responses; it shares capabilities.
In a world where challenges are increasingly interconnected, this form of collaboration becomes a strategic advantage, with greater potential for sustainability and longevity.
Key lessons for the future of the SDGs
In Latin America, the Flying Labs experience offers valuable lessons for any organization seeking to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals:
- Technology should solve real problems, not showcase sophistication.
- Sustainable impact requires local leadership, not external dependency.
- SDGs are achieved through ecosystems, not isolated projects.
- The most powerful innovation combines technology, culture, and territory.
Closing the loop: purpose, technology, and people
In a world striving to accelerate progress toward the SDGs, the Flying Labs network reminds us of something essential: technology with purpose emerges when we trust people and local knowledge.
From the Global South and for the Global South, the Flying Labs network demonstrates that it is possible to build technological innovation with real, sustainable, and ethical impact—aligned with the SDGs and deeply connected to local realities.
More than delivering solutions, it is about building capacities.
More than innovating quickly, it is about innovating with meaning and purpose.
Along this path, technology ceases to be the protagonist and becomes what it always should have been: an ally of sustainable human development.
Mgt. Ronald Beltrán Tórrez
Bolivia Flying Labs
Dr. Diego Ferruzzo
Brazil Flying Labs
