On January 13,
2020, UNICEF partnered with Virginia Tech to launch the African Drone and
Data Academy in Malawi - the first of its kind educational effort to provide
African youth with drone, data, and entrepreneurship skills. The academy
develops expertise in the use of drones for humanitarian, development, and
commercial purposes across the continent through a 10-week course. By 2021, it
plans to train approximately 150 students to build and pilot drones. Virginia
Tech developed the curriculum that combines theoretical and practical methods
for making, testing, and flying drones.
Virginia Tech's Center for International Research, Education, and
Development (CIRED) manages the
project.