South African drone services company GoUAV has launched a programme that will allow some industries – including mining, real estate, utilities, ports and municipalities – to bring fully compliant docked drone operations on their premises within six to eight weeks.
Named the GoUAV Drone Dock Enablement Programme, the project promises a turnkey route to owning and operating a drone dock ground station compliant with aviation laws.
Beyond supplying the DJI Dock, GoUAV says it will work directly with users to install the system and train staff, ensuring organisations can run their own remote aerial operations legally and efficiently.
GoUAV is a South African reseller of DJI Enterprise products and on‑premise drone management systems for local firms, estates and property groups. Its new programme will reportedly operate entirely within a user’s own IT infrastructure, giving organisations full control over their data and operations.
“Bringing drone dock operations within the organisation helps organisations take control and better manage the costs of UAV operations. Large firms know their own installations better than anyone else,” said Phil Smerkovitz, Managing Director and founder of GoUAV.
“Many organisations still outsource drone operations, a model that often leads to high costs, delays, limited visibility, loss of critical data ownership and a narrow focus on security applications. By contrast, an in‑house drone dock programme allows companies to plan missions, supervise fleets and manage data internally — without worrying about hitting contracted flight‑time limits.
“Now, they can operate with an IT-compliant, self-contained, on-premise, secure enterprise drone management system with no internet or public cloud dependency, and no reliance on outsourced drone service providers who are often unaware of the enormous potential of drones beyond security applications.”
He added that the drone dock enablement programme would deliver an integrated enterprise drone operations platform that enables real-time situational awareness across mining, utilities, estates, ports, agriculture, inspection, and security operations, all within a controlled, secure operating environment.
The platform supports remote operations, automated flight scheduling, task execution, media uploading and storage, as well as centralised equipment maintenance — capabilities increasingly sought after across South Africa’s industrial and public sectors.
GoUAV, launched nearly a decade ago, has become one of the country’s most established online portals for UAV technology, software and accessories. Its solutions support a wide range of applications, including search and rescue, firefighting, agriculture, solar farm inspections, pipeline monitoring, quantity surveying, aerial surveys and more.
With the new enablement programme, the company aims to help South African organisations unlock the full potential of autonomous drone operations while maintaining compliance, security and complete ownership of their aerial data.