Tech Matters Podcast Episode Summary
Episode Title: Decolonizing Drones, with Sonja Betschart of WeRobotics
Host: Jim Fruchterman
Guest: Sonja Betschart, co-founder of WeRobotics and Flying Labs
Release Date: December 4, 2025
Episode Overview
This episode explores how drones—often associated with military and surveillance—can become powerful, locally-controlled tools for social good. Sonja Betschart, co-founder of WeRobotics and leader of the Flying Labs Network, shares her journey from the tech startup world to launching a social tech organization focused on decolonizing innovation. They discuss WeRobotics' unique social franchise model, the importance of local expertise, and a conscious decision to build on existing technology instead of reinventing the wheel. The conversation dives into decolonized tech, ethical data handling, capacity-building, and the challenge and promise of local innovation networks.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Sonja's Path to Societal Impact Through Technology
- Background in Business, then Tech for Good
- Sonja’s career began in for-profits and tech startups, drawn to the innovation and rapid pace, but she felt a lack of meaningful purpose.
- “I really love the startup space…But at the end of the day it always felt like something was missing.” (04:03)
- Introduction to nonprofit and conservation sectors highlighted how critical data was missing in community-driven projects.
- Sonja’s career began in for-profits and tech startups, drawn to the innovation and rapid pace, but she felt a lack of meaningful purpose.
- Catalyst for WeRobotics
- Exposure to drones as a potential game-changer for gathering geospatial data in conservation:
- “I was blown away. I really felt like, oh, my God, if only we would have had this technology three years ago in all of our projects, it would have made such a big difference.” (06:36)
- Exposure to drones as a potential game-changer for gathering geospatial data in conservation:
Moving Beyond Tech Tourism: Sustainable, Local-First Models
- Early Lessons from “Parachuting” Approaches
- Initial efforts involved bringing tech to local projects directly—effective for pilots, but unsustainable and disconnected from local capacity building.
- “You are coming in. And so that was a fantastic learning… it is not locally embedded, it's not locally driven.” (09:14)
- Initial efforts involved bringing tech to local projects directly—effective for pilots, but unsustainable and disconnected from local capacity building.
- Emergence of WeRobotics
- Vision: Create bridges between technology creators and local actors—helping locals integrate tools into their own work without imposing tech externally.
- “Not forcing the technology in them, but just kind of creating the needed ecosystem and the needed frameworks that local groups, local experts…can integrate.” (10:23)
- Vision: Create bridges between technology creators and local actors—helping locals integrate tools into their own work without imposing tech externally.
The Flying Labs Network: Decolonizing Technology in Practice
- Pilot and Scale-up
- Initial pilot Flying Labs in Tanzania (agriculture, urban planning), Peru (drone medical delivery in the Amazon), Nepal (mapping post-earthquake/landslides). (16:13)
- Quickly grew demand—shifted to a social franchise model so that existing local orgs could join more efficiently.
- “We chose a social franchise approach…that allows existing local organizations…to join the network.” (18:00)
- Networked Learning and South-to-South Innovation
- Flying Labs are rooted in local orgs (nonprofit, for-profit, university, even government office) and designed for peer learning and sharing.
- “You just can build on each other's knowledge…This allows not to make the same mistakes again.” (19:24)
- Sharing not just tech but workflows: Fiji’s mangrove mapping, India’s hardware ecosystem, and Mexico’s biomass calculation with drones and lidar (35:41).
- Flying Labs are rooted in local orgs (nonprofit, for-profit, university, even government office) and designed for peer learning and sharing.
- Key Takeaway:
- The network intentionally supports “south-to-south” innovation, a model often overlooked by traditional actors.
Building With, Not For: The Tech Stack and Partner Ecosystem
- Not Building New Hardware/Software
- Intentional decision to avoid developing new platforms; instead, they partner with existing drone, software, and certification companies.
- “We decided quite early on not to build tech, but to actually build on existing technologies.” (22:33)
- Intentional decision to avoid developing new platforms; instead, they partner with existing drone, software, and certification companies.
- Open Source and Sharing
- Emphasis on open-source tools (e.g., QGIS), open workflow sharing, and adaptation within the network.
- “A lot of the sharing…is mostly on workflows, also on data processing workflows and analysis workflows just to support each other.” (25:23)
- Emphasis on open-source tools (e.g., QGIS), open workflow sharing, and adaptation within the network.
- Business and Local Capacity
- Collaborations with hardware companies promote both business and social impact; local orgs showcase, train, and certify tech (23:33).
Ethical Data and AI: Keeping Power Close to the Ground
- Data Sovereignty
- Unlike many platforms, data remains with local partners unless it is safe to share more widely.
- “A lot of the actual collected data stays in the hands of whoever that project was done with. So we don't sit on a ton of data actually that can be used for AI, which is on the one hand a limitation, but on the other hand also respects, I think, the local fly ins of the flying labs to be in full control of the data.” (26:54)
- Unlike many platforms, data remains with local partners unless it is safe to share more widely.
- AI Applications
- AI use is localized—projects such as automatic shark counting use custom algorithms shared among labs by request. (27:47)
Funding and Organizational Structure
- Lean Central Team, Partner-Powered Model
- Organization stays small (12 staff), relying on partnerships, grants, pro bono services, and consulting for funding.
- “We heavily rely on our partner ecosystem choice to say whatever we can outsource, we outsource…” (30:10)
- About 50% funding from grants/donations; up to 40% from in-kind/pro-bono partner support; consulting income (31:56).
- Organization stays small (12 staff), relying on partnerships, grants, pro bono services, and consulting for funding.
Lessons for Tech for Good and Broader Social Innovation
- Build on the Existing
- Avoid reinventing the wheel—partner and leverage structures, platforms, and knowledge already available.
- “There's so many amazing existing, you know, initiatives and tech out there already…If you just partner, we are really good at applying, others are really good at building. Let's come together…” (33:01)
- Avoid reinventing the wheel—partner and leverage structures, platforms, and knowledge already available.
- Facilitate, Don’t Own, Innovation
- Their role is to enable, connect, and amplify local innovation, not to drive it from the top.
- “Majority of the resources are created by flying lab.” (35:08)
- Their role is to enable, connect, and amplify local innovation, not to drive it from the top.
- The Joy and Power of Sharing
- Innovations (like India’s drone air sampling pouch or Mexico’s biomass workflows) rapidly spread because of a “generous” culture.
- “People are really happy to share because the goal is social change. It's not profit, where being proprietary somehow advances your interests.” (36:51)
- Innovations (like India’s drone air sampling pouch or Mexico’s biomass workflows) rapidly spread because of a “generous” culture.
Advice for Aspiring Social Entrepreneurs
- Focus on Value for End Users
- Value proposition is core—adapt as needs change and stay aligned by listening and co-designing.
- “All our work is based on strong value propositions. And these value propositions also change over time as needs change. But we keep an extremely strong focus on creating value for who we create value. And this is kind of our North Star.” (38:04)
- Value proposition is core—adapt as needs change and stay aligned by listening and co-designing.
- Be Willing to Do Unsexy But Necessary Work
- Sometimes the greatest sector contributions come from addressing gaps (e.g., regulatory advocacy) that aren’t inherently interesting.
- “Our role is to provide value to Flying Labs and…we actually came up with something quite cool along the way.” (39:23)
- Sometimes the greatest sector contributions come from addressing gaps (e.g., regulatory advocacy) that aren’t inherently interesting.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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Challenging the Narrative Around Drones:
- “When most people hear the word drone, they think military hardware and surveillance. Something ominous buzzing overhead. Our guest today has spent more than a decade proving that drones could be used for something very different—a practical, locally owned tool for social good.”
—Jim Fruchterman (01:32)
- “When most people hear the word drone, they think military hardware and surveillance. Something ominous buzzing overhead. Our guest today has spent more than a decade proving that drones could be used for something very different—a practical, locally owned tool for social good.”
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On Decolonizing Tech:
- “The Flying Labs Network is a concrete model of what decolonizing technology can look like. Flying Labs are locally rooted organizations…The network's job is to connect them, help them learn from each other and create south to south innovation.”
—Jim Fruchterman (02:24)
- “The Flying Labs Network is a concrete model of what decolonizing technology can look like. Flying Labs are locally rooted organizations…The network's job is to connect them, help them learn from each other and create south to south innovation.”
-
On Data Sovereignty:
- “Most project data stays with the local partners because it's sensitive and it's theirs. That limits some AI possibilities, but also respects communities and keeps power closer to the ground.”
—Jim Fruchterman (02:45)
- “Most project data stays with the local partners because it's sensitive and it's theirs. That limits some AI possibilities, but also respects communities and keeps power closer to the ground.”
-
On Real-World Impact:
- “For the shark research, how do they count sharks today? They mostly take a boat, go out in the shallow water and count the sharks...If you then not only use the drone to get data of our map, but also fly at a very low altitude...these photos can be used by the researchers to actually count the number of sharks.”
—Sonja Betschart (12:19)
- “For the shark research, how do they count sharks today? They mostly take a boat, go out in the shallow water and count the sharks...If you then not only use the drone to get data of our map, but also fly at a very low altitude...these photos can be used by the researchers to actually count the number of sharks.”
-
On Building Local Capacity:
- “Why would we concentrate, for example, on building algorithms ourselves when there's a lot of other organizations out there who already do that, we just can partner with them.”
—Sonja Betschart (30:21)
- “Why would we concentrate, for example, on building algorithms ourselves when there's a lot of other organizations out there who already do that, we just can partner with them.”
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On Innovation and Networking:
- “Learning through a small initiative and building on that somewhere else on the planet and then doing this collaboratively together, I think there's a lot of fantastic opportunities out there...For us in the beginning we created a lot of the resources for the Flying Labs network. Today the majority of the resources are created by Flying Lab.”
—Sonja Betschart (34:34)
- “Learning through a small initiative and building on that somewhere else on the planet and then doing this collaboratively together, I think there's a lot of fantastic opportunities out there...For us in the beginning we created a lot of the resources for the Flying Labs network. Today the majority of the resources are created by Flying Lab.”
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Sonja’s Advice to Social Entrepreneurs:
- “We keep an extremely strong focus on creating value for who we create value…It also forces us to listen. It forces us to pause and reflect: are we still in a good journey? Are we still providing value?”
—Sonja Betschart (38:09)
- “We keep an extremely strong focus on creating value for who we create value…It also forces us to listen. It forces us to pause and reflect: are we still in a good journey? Are we still providing value?”
Important Timestamps
- 01:32 – Framing drones’ reputation & introducing WeRobotics as a counter-narrative
- 04:03 – Sonja on her tech and business background, missing purpose
- 06:36 – Discovery of drones’ potential for conservation data
- 09:14 – Why “parachute tech” isn’t sustainable: pushing toward locally-embedded, local capacity
- 16:13 – Piloting the Flying Labs in Tanzania, Peru, and Nepal
- 18:00 – Adoption of social franchise model for scaling up Flying Labs
- 22:33 – WeRobotics’ approach: build on existing technology, don’t reinvent
- 25:23 – The blend of commercial and open-source software in Flying Labs
- 26:54 – Data sovereignty and local control of sensitive project data
- 27:47 – AI applications in the network: grounded, project-specific
- 30:10–31:56 – Funding breakdown: grants, partnerships, consulting, pro bono
- 33:01 – Generalizable lesson: Build on existing tech, partner instead of duplicate
- 35:08–36:51 – Examples of how innovations spread via network and culture of generosity
- 38:04 – Sonja’s advice: focus on value proposition; importance of listening and adapting
Episode Takeaways
- Drones aren’t just military hardware—they’re transformative, locally controlled tools for social and environmental impact.
- Decolonizing technology means local ownership, data sovereignty, and enabling peer-to-peer (“south-to-south”) innovation.
- Building networks and ecosystems on existing tech and knowledge, sharing openly, and focusing on value for local practitioners unlocks more diverse and resilient social change.
- Sustainable social tech means prioritizing partnerships, lean operations, and always centering value delivery over shiny, new, duplicative solutions.