To dive deeper into Skyports’ strategy and plans for Colombia, Finance Colombia Executive Editor Loren Moss had a conversation with Daniel Salamanca, Skyports Colombia’s general manager.

Finance Colombia: Help us to understand a little bit about Skyports as a company. Why did you choose Colombia, and what can we expect to see here in Colombia?

Daniel Salamanca: So I can tell you a little bit about my background, I am an aeronautical engineer. I have worked for approximately seven years where I have developed different types of processes, especially in the industrial area here in the country and one of the first projects I participated in was with the government where through smaller drones, we used drones for laboratory sample transportation. That was the first test concept that we tried here in the country.

Latin America is a very dynamic place for these types of tests. Possibly people relate [to drones] more as a hobby or for audio-visual production than as a professional thing, but the impact that drones are having in the Industrial sector are changing industries. It’s a game-changing factor in the technology sector, it is very important.

“It’s not a transatlantic thing, but this will be able to transport a person from Rionegro to Medellin in 2 minutes.”

Skyports is basically dedicated to two business lines, a short-term line and a long-term line. The short-term line is dedicated to cargo delivery with low to medium capacity drones, which means that we develop through a customer supply chain structure where we move something from point A to point B, that’s what we do.

On the long-term, and understanding a little bit about the aviation story, the first operators were cargo and later passengers, so [we envision] the same thing happening with the revolution of drones. The midterm bet is to achieve the ability to develop vertiports, which are ports that are the necessary infrastructure to land air taxis, drones that can take passengers between cities, between coasts, so it’s a thing that it’s more dedicated towards aviation.

It’s not a transatlantic thing, but this will be able to transport a person from Rionegro to Medellin in 2 minutes, so let’s say that’s the bet. Currently we have operations in different parts of the world. We have operations in APAC, in Singapore, in Scotland we have a successful case in the health sector. And currently the company selected Latin America for a reason and especially Colombia, and that is because we have identified that there are possibilities, there are opportunities for connecting these people that live in rural areas.

So that’s the mission that we have at this moment, and with this type of technology we want to democratize the access to supplies, logistics, goods and even with a more humanitarian focus, and that’s why we chose Colombia, besides the fact that this country, having its characteristics. It’s a country that provides a certain amount of technology, a dynamic environment, especially Medellin, which works as a hub in this topic. So due to the opportunity and conditions that we found here, with the difficult times that people spend trying to gain access to products, food; the geographical conditions, political conditions, thanks to all of that we see opportunities where we can focus and expand the service throughout Latin America in general.

Finance Colombia: You mentioned several things, one thing is that obviously yes, there are challenges that we have here in Colombia as well as there are many areas where the access is only via ships and boats: speaking of Chocó, speaking of Nariño, there are areas like Norte de Santander and Catatumbo where the security situation is dangerous and there are drone use cases for surveillance of oil pipelines for example, but you also mention other things that are surprising to me, when you speak about drones as a way of transportation for people.

I imagine that is not approved in any country for commercial use, it must be in a test stage, isn’t that very futuristic? Something that can be conceived in a more of a long-term way like something we are not going to see in 2022 or 2023, since it’s still in the experimental stage. The process to test a new airplane which would be like FAA, European Union or Aerocivil, is a process that takes years and years so when you’re talking about going from the Airbus 320 to the Airbus 340, there’s a process of 5 to 10 years, so isn’t the idea of passenger drones more like a dream?

I can understand medicine transportation, for example, I know Skyports has a mail delivery project in England, but is transporting people like a dream or is more like a project where you can say “yes, in three years we’re going to move people” or will it still be just products like medicines and food?

Daniel Salamanca: You just said something very important Loren, it’s a bet towards the future. In this midterm line, which I just mentioned to you, what you’re saying is very clear, we only transport small cargo through smaller drones that can take up to 5, 6, 7 or 8 kilograms.

That’s what’s happening currently. Now, despite that we are aware that in the world there are a few companies, Airbus, even new companies, startups, that are developing the concept of air mobility. Countries like Singapore & Dubai are exploring the opportunity of having vertical ports, which is infrastructure oriented to this type of technology. Also companies in Europe and the United States are making the first tests of this [passenger transporting] equipment.

What we know is that this at some point transition will come, and what we’re doing is to prepare the land, the infrastructure, and the logistics to be able to at some point have the capacity of let’s say, providing the service in this kind of air mobility infrastructure. Obviously we can say it’s a dream but it’s a dream that it’s becoming tangible. Every day there are more players in the field, every day doing tests of these types of drones to transport people, and they are developing the infrastructure, the heliports where the drones will be parked. Yes, the concept definitely sounds very futuristic compared to what we have right now, but there are already many companies in the world and even regulatory bodies and institutions working to create regulations so that these can go from a dream to a reality. So far we’re just focused on what we can do which are deliveries with drones, taking a load from point A to point B.

Finance Colombia: Speaking of the commercial aspect of it, the good thing about a drone is that they are fast, and they don’t have to go through streets and road traffic. Two cities can be relatively close but there’s a mountain separating them, so travel is slow. Before from Santa Fe de Antioquia to Medellin it was like six hours because there was no tunnel, and we had to go up the mountain and then go back down.

The drones have limited capacity, and I imagine that due to the operational cost I can’t say: “I want to supply everything to a town.” So due to the delivery cost, the focus has to be on high value products, right? What is the model so that it can be profitable for the company? Obviously by the capacity of the drones, commercial limits and also the fact that when we’re speaking of drones, we’re not talking about suburban areas like Chia, or Cajicá or Llanogrande, but remote areas that have no resources. Can you provide these services in a way that is not so expensive for the end user? I’d like to understand the model, taking into account all these types of limitations.

Daniel Salamanca: Perfect, I can give you an example of what we’re doing in Scotland currently. We’re delivering vital medical supplies. With the concept of the drone, it has to be something of high value, that needs to be transported in a short amount of time. And when I say value, I don’t mean money, but for the person that is receiving it, it is something very necessary, valuable. So: high value, short time delivery, and something that needs to be transported quickly.

What we’re doing in Scotland, with this partnership with the NHS, which is an equivalent of the Health Ministry in Colombia, we developed a process for vital supplies for populations on islands receiving government assistance, similar to populations here in Colombia. The paying customer would be the medical institutions, government agencies and nonprofits or humanitarian entities.

Now in the case of low-income areas as you mention, a village in La Guajira, or a community in Chocó, it’s hard for them to afford this service. Despite that, the strategy is to be able to develop alliances with the government. In Africa there is a success case where this technology was applied. Humanitarian aid is part of the strategies we are trying to develop.

Finance Colombia: Something I’ve noticed is that you have the support of Irelandia Aviation. As we know, this is a private equity developer of airlines which has been super successful and has also worked in the US. They are from the same brains behind RyanAir in Europe. Here in Colombia, Irelandia is the engine behind Viva and its success. Tell the importance of having that backup regarding capital, knowledge and experience in the aviation sector? What does it mean for Skyports?

Daniel Salamanca: Irelandia understands the importance of investing in the future of mobility, including drones and urban air taxis, which is something that is happening right now. What we did was to create an alliance, a joint venture, to cover this part of the world. Irelandia provides its whole background regarding the aviation sector in the region, in Colombia, as well as it has done it with Mexico and Peru, and having operations throughout the region. It has this commercial background and also in the operational aspect. This alliance is very exciting and important, so that we can land with a partner that has a lot of experience in aviation development. The concept of drones for Irelandia is clear and its strategy is to bet on them for the future.

Finance Colombia: When will you operating? When will you be flying drones in Colombia? And when will you be operating serving commercial clients?

Daniel Salamanca: The pre-operational phase where we have to obtain the permissions and technical things, pilots, putting all of this together will take place through July of 2022 when we expect to begin the first operations. What we’re doing now is finishing deals with our partners or potential customers to develop proof-of-concept tests for the first or second quarter of next year. This will also depend on (Colombia’s civil aviation regulatory authority) Aerocivil, in order to have  commercial operating permission for the next year. That’s part of the roll out that we’re doing in Colombia, but we will also integrate countries like Panama or Mexico to start operations under the same plan. First we develop tests, then apply for permission with the regulatory entities, giving proof of safety and reliability, and then we jump to the commercial phase, to start billing clients.

Finance Colombia: Besides the government, with a use case like the health ministry distributing COVID vaccines, what’s the profile of your ideal client?

Daniel Salamanca: Regarding health, there is a long logistics chain: there’s the government, there are the suppliers, transportation, pharmacies, and laboratory entities…so the drone gets to be part of a chain that is already working with all the actors of the health sector, suppliers, pharmacies, health entities, government, clinics, and even foundations that also work in the health sector. Also the Red Cross and humanitarian organizations that are involved in the health process could become that ideal client we’re looking for. So, in the health sector, that’s what we’re emulating, since that’s what we’ve done in Asia Pacific and Europe.

Finance Colombia: We want to let our audience know every step and every achievement you make, so let’s stay in touch with Skyports and its growth.

Daniel Salamanca: Thank you very much. I’m here for any inquiry or comment you might have. And we will keep developing this technology here in Colombia to help the communities and the people.

With social distancing and quarantines, drone inspections can contribute to worker safety by reducing face-to-face work at heights. A single flight can cover a large area with buildings and infrastructure, revealing needs for intervention in a timely manner on roofs and rooftop machinery.

“The complementary technology installed in the drones, such as video and photography cameras, 3D reconstruction and thermography equipment, improves loss prevention inspections by providing a detailed view of the condition of roofs and other infrastructure conditions from the air,” said Manuel Obregón, the president of Chubb Seguros Colombia.

The capture of images with a drone, in addition to offering digital and thermal photographs, allows the detection of hot spots, humidity, water or gas leaks and the location of energy losses, among other damages that are not perceived by the human eye.

These inspections can be carried out in hospitals, apartment or house complexes, industrial zones, free zones and industrial plants, among other facilities.

“It is important to note that the Chubb service is conducted under a strict corporate privacy policy. In this policy, we include legal clauses that protect the personal information of citizens during the inspection processes and we keep all the information collected from customers safe,” added Obregón.

Chubb Risk Engineering initially developed this service in North America, then introducing it in Chile during 2018, then rolling it out to several Latin American countries.

The company took delivery of 4 drones, named “Sea Explorer,” and will be operated by French company Alseamar; the designer and provider of the machines and the specialized services to support their use. The submarine drones will begin operation between now and December, when conditions are ideal for explorations near the Guajira Peninsula on Colombia’s Atlantic coast.

These small, unmanned submarines have permitted the gathering, over time spans of weeks or months, data such as ocean currents, temperature, salinity, pressure, oxygenation, dissolved organic material, chlorophyll, and other variables across wide areas and depths.

These variables, according to Ecopetrol, are important to analyze before ocean drilling, as they can help reduce risks, and also identify naturally occurring petroleum seepage from the sea floor, indicating potential exploration zones. The submarines also can provide acoustic monitoring during actual drilling activities.

Ecopetrol currently has six exploration and production blocks in The Caribbean, including Fuerte Sur, Purple Angel, Tayronal, COL-5, GUAOFF1, and GUAOFF-10.

Casnocha, who founded Comcate and is the author of My Start-Up Life and The Alliance, was in Bogotá to speak at the WOBI “Be Beta” conference in the capital and share his outlook on the tech world with those in attendance. He also took the time to sit down with Finance Colombia to discuss the state of innovation in the country and how a shifting political landscape is affecting Silicon Valley.

Casnocha says that Medellín and Colombia in general has the tech talent. There are innovative software developers and entrepreneurs who have the vision for the future to craft good apps that help people solve problems.

But the supporting infrastructure remains thin. Those in Medellín who want to turn a great idea into a great business often hit a wall. There is lack of skills related to project management, product development, marketing, and other core functions that are necessary to go from having five people to having 500. Such concerns are not the sexy side of the startup world, but he believes they are vital to reaching the next level.

Fortunately, there are success stories coming out of Colombia. And these promising ventures are helping to show more venture capitalists — in Silicon Valley and beyond — that Colombia is a place to look for investment. That in turn should help develop the on-the-ground networks and infrastructure to improve the ability to scale, especially as more Colombian startups begin to develop a global, or at least regional, mind set.

To following is the conversation we had in Bogotá about this key issue and other issues currently affecting tech companies and hopeful entrepreneurs in Colombia.

Jared Wade: I know you’ve been to Colombia several times now dating back five or six years. What have you seen change over the time here?

Ben Casnocha: I think Colombia has a very bright future in terms of the basic demographics of the country and the basic economics. I think the peace deal with the FARC, if it holds, is very encouraging — to put that in the rearview mirror and focus on a future where you can spend less money fighting the civil war and more money investing in infrastructure.

But I’m always impressed by the Colombian people. They are very hard working, very entrepreneurial. So I’m extremely optimistic about what can be done here in the next few decades.

Jared Wade: In terms of tech, how do you see things? People like to say that Medellín can be the Silicon Valley of South America — and of course we hear this in Latin America about Guadalajara or even the startup scene in Chile. But how do you see Medllín overall as far as evolving into a place that can start to create some really Innovative and interesting companies and apps?

Ben Casnocha: I was at a conference a year ago in Medellín and the mayor was very charismatic. All these people had come together to talk about entrepreneurship in Medellín — people from all over the world at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress. I think there is a lot of engineering talent.

What tends to be missing in places like Mexico or Colombia is product management and marketing expertise. There are actually a lot of very good software developers, which is great to start a company. But to really scale a company — which is what Silicon Valley is really best at, like Facebook going from 20 people to 2,000 people — you need a bunch of other expertise around the table in addition to raw engineering talent.

So I think that’s where there is still work to be done in terms of the human capital in Colombia. Funding is important but it’s also just the skill set of knowing how to scale new businesses.

Jared Wade: How does Medellín, and just Colombia in general, start to establish more of that infrastructure and intellectual capacity?

Ben Casnocha: I think the key is to celebrate the people who are successful already. Make that a model both for other perspective entrepreneurs and for the media and for investors around the world.

We need more case studies of people who’ve been really successful here to inspire locals to start. And we need this also to update the stereotypes that other people outside of Colombia have about the country so that more investors abroad will come to Medellín and not think drugs — but think engineering, think talent, think entrepreneurship. This success is here. I think it’s as much of a marketing challenge as it is a reality challenge.

Jared Wade: On the funding side, is that one of the big aspects that is still lagging in terms of investors actually putting up money?

Ben Casnocha: I think there is a lack of capital. Most U.S. tech investors do not want to invest in Colombia. Because they don’t know it. It’s just foreign to them.

That’s changing. Companies like Rappi have raised tens of millions of dollars in U.S. venture capital (VC) from the very best firms in the world. That’s a hopeful sign that U.S. VCs will begin to invest more in Colombia.

But I think what U.S. investors look for the most are entrepreneurs that have a global vision — people that want to build a global business. Because the Colombian market, while large, is not large enough to sustain a venture-style business. So they want to identify an entrepreneur that wants to conquer Colombia, then Mexico, then Brazil, then Argentina to build a truly regional business. Those are the sorts of businesses that get investors excited.

Jared Wade: More broadly, just looking at the future of tech in general, where should people who want to make the next Uber or the next Rappi be looking?

Ben Casnocha: There are a bunch of different trends that are very exciting in technology today. The one that I’m most excited about personally a self-driving cars. Because people die every single day on the road because of drunk driving or because they’re texting and driving. Humans are terrible drivers in general, and I think we’ll look back at this period of time and ask how did we ever let humans drive killing machines so recklessly on the road.

So autonomous cars and autonomous car technology I think is going to change so many parts of the economy. In the U.S. alone there are a million people who drive trucks for a living. So they will all be out of work. But think about the productivity gains, even here in Bogotá  where there is so much traffic. What if instead of sitting in the traffic, you could be getting work done?

And there’s a lot of technology that goes around autonomous vehicles and a lot of regulation. Like if I were a government official in Colombia, I would try to relax the restrictions and regulations around autonomous vehicles, as well as drones, to enable innovation to happen here from companies. That is often a barrier: For companies to try things. With smart legislation — and smart technology — I think Colombia could choose to be a leader in this category, for example.

Jared Wade: What other areas are intriguing right now to you?

Ben Casnocha: Other trends that are exciting are virtual reality, augmented reality. I think the mobile revolution still to play out. There are all the common trends that you read about.

I think for the entrepreneur here, it’s about picking something that you are personally passionate about. Because the journey is going to be hard so you better be excited about what you’re doing rather than just optimizing on the highest market potential.

Jared Wade: Is it frustrating for you — and another people in California and in these tech realms — to see all the rhetoric that comes from the politicians? It seems that they are always looking back 20 years ago toward retaining jobs as opposed to forward thinking.

Ben Casnocha: I was just chatting with someone here in Bogotá about the obsession that Trump, and a lot of politicians, have about the coal industry. “We must protect the jobs in the coal industry.”

The solar industry employs like 10 times the number of employees — and I don’t know that that is the exact stat — than there are in the coal sector. So why are we obsessed with coal workers having jobs? Well, because the current president in 70 years old and a lot of people who are older think back to an era when a lot of people worked in coal. Nobody works in coal anymore. The economy is changing.

So it is frustrating because we need to focus on the technologies of the future. Similarly it’s like taxis vs. Uber. I’m very intrigued by how Colombia regulates Uber. There are people who have livelihood driving taxis, and the question is do they have a God-given right to a job? Or, when Uber is obviously more convenient and much safer than taxis, can they be re-trained in a skill area where they can actually have a livelihood? Do you regulate the industry such that you prevent new entrants and shut down innovation like Uber to protect the taxi cartel?

I think those are difficult challenges. And I think politicians generally are way too focused on how to protect existing jobs rather than enabling a smooth transition to whatever the job of the future is. And there will be jobs of the future, especially as we have more leisure time.

Massage therapy didn’t exist 75 years ago. Who would have thought we would have time to take massages? All this leisure time we have, there are jobs surrounding that. So there will be plenty of jobs but there will be a transition from the old economy to the new economy.

Jared Wade: So do you see it as there’s almost two conversations going on: one in Washington and one in Silicon Valley? And you guys are all talking about different things?

Ben Casnocha: Yeah, generally Washington and Silicon Valley have been very far apart for a long time. Now, Google and Apple employ huge numbers of lobbyists today — but that’s only the last few years.

I think Silicon Valley now is realizing that government is regulating businesses. Governments are trying to regulate Airbnb in ways that are very destructive, I’d say, to human freedom and prosperity. Government is trying to regulate the internet with net neutrality legislation. There are a lot of things that the government can do that affects tech.

The tech industry has to wake up. And it’s not just Washington, D.C. It’s Brussels. The EU is fining U.S. tech companies an extraordinary amount of money for all sorts of antitrust accusations. Google has serious policy issues in Europe right now and is spending tons of money to try to deal with that. So tech is finally in the crosshairs or regulators — for better or for worse.

This interview has been edited for space and clarity.

Primary guidelines insist that civilian drones, also called RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) may not weigh more than 25 kilograms, they must be equipped with autopilot and GPS, their propulsion may not be overly noisy or polluting, propellers or rotors may not be metallic, and they need to have a nameplate identifying the operator in case of accident or violation.

Civilian drones in Colombia, according to the Aerocivil regulations, may not fly over congested areas, buildings or gatherings during bad weather conditions, strong winds, or outside of visual observation of the operator. They may not be flown in aviation corridors, at night, nor may they operate within 1.8 miles of government installations, political offices, military, police, or penal facilities, among others.  Drones may not fly at altitudes more than 152 meters AGL (Above Ground Level), or more than 0.75 kilometers distant from the operator. They may not transport animals, psychoactive substances, weapons, or other dangerous materials.

Perhaps most notably, commercial drone operators within Colombia must have 40 hours of logged flight instruction, 200 takeoffs and landings, which are certified by an instruction facility authorized by Aeronáutica Civil. Those who wish to use drones for commercial purposes must obtain permission from Aeronáutica Civil. Violations will result in criminal and / or civil penalties.

Certain “social” uses of drones, even by businesses or organizations, do not fall under the commercial restriction, says Freddy Augusto Bonilla Herrera, Colombia’s Secretary of Aviation Security, in a 17 minute long  question-and-answer video (in Spanish). Bonilla explains the new regulations, and what exemptions exist. Aeronáutica Civil will continue to monitor noncommercial usage of drones to determine if additional regulations are necessary. According to Bonilla, certain noncommercial “social” uses include firefighting, forestry observation, volcanic and flood monitoring, road traffic observation, among others. Drones with cameras may only be used over authorized property, and may not invade upon anyone’s privacy, he said.

Download the entire regulation document here (in Spanish).

Drones like the one above may not be used by civilians in Colombia. (Photo courtesy courtesy of Skeeze – Pixabay)