Feedback from Freetown trip Sept 2025

[pedrito1414]

Hi @spwoodcock dumping this here for now. Will split out once Sarah has also shared her notes.

Software:

• No way of knowing that DTM app had updated.
• Flight plan transfer could be less complicated.
• File transfer process prone to errors.
• DTM went down multiple time during campaign (once costing pilots an entire day and so a day's wages)

Hardware:

• Batteries seem to be of differing quality (team felt that those purchased in Canada outperformed those purchased in the UK by x2)
• More or better quality / capacity batteries would drive greater efficiency

Processing:

• Something about the processing of areas with a lot of mangrove being problematic (sorry - rubbish notes - hopefully Sarah's are better)

Process:

• File management could be simplified - prone to errors.
• Team agreed that a more intentional peer experience sharing process would have helped reduce common errors and share improved methods and tactics

[sarahassali]

Hello @pedrito1414 ; @spwoodcock, here is my feedback from the learning exchange we had. It's more related to people though. One additional note about processing only which I also wasn't sure anymore what they meant with it

People

• There is a huge opportunity in terms of mapping informal settlements generally, but specially those which are located outside of Freetown. In addition to shifting focus from the capital of the country towards secondary cities, our projects there will be giving slum dwellers hope and showing them interest in their life and its improvement; another opportunity is that it gives people from the settlements possible job opportunities and improves livelihoods which is much needed to keep people in their areas and not have to move to the big city to gain such access;

• Local councils: when scaling outside of Freetown, there will be a lot of interest and buy-in from the city councils (CODOHSAPA and Fedurp have already existing relationships with most of them), but the downside is that those city councils won’t have the same resources that exist in FT and they are in a constant state of survival data use-cases might be more difficult to demonstrate/ attain;

• Best practices/ recommendations

  • o continue to have a community-driven approach in the center of our work; engaging with local communities gradually without over-promising; building strong partnerships with local stakeholders and authorities ;
  • o Have a good mix in drone trainings of young people + fixed staff members of city councils;
  • o Continue to engage with young people from the communities as they are very tech savvy. The current drone crew team had no prior experience in flying drones and managed to abosrob the skills and knowledge very quickly.
  • o Develop MoUs with city councils which clearly stipulate the tasks that will be conducted before we go into implementation;
  • o Ensure that city council staff commit to the project period and training, this could be achieved by signing contracts;
  • o Freetown Open Drone Crew team is very interested in conducting training to new drone crews in secondary cities in a phased and gradual approach moving from having HOT staff to conducting training completely independent. This will have many benefits which will ensure transfer of skills between project locations such as community-to-community approach, eliminating language and cultural barriers, and ensuring a sustainable model of peer learning/ community of practice

Processing: laptops provided don't help; there is a need for better laptops (? or did they not have laptops at all?)

Peer learning: in additional to Pete's notes, they recommended having reflection/ feedback sessions after each mapping exercise in order to solidify the group learning and troublshooting

Hardware: in terms of scaling, they don't recommend equipment pooling/ sharing, rather buying hardware for each location which the city councils could retain and use in the future.