Uttam Pudasaini

Uttam is a tech entrepreneur and has been working on the applications of GIS, ICT, and frontier technologies like Drones for social good and development since 2014. He is a co-founder of NAXA, a geospatial service provider company where he mainly conceptualizes ideas around the use of data and digital technologies for development. Since the Nepal Earthquake 2015, he has been leading drones for crisis mapping, disaster resilience, and improved public health initiatives with his engagement as director of Nepal Flying Labs, a Nepal chapter of the international Flying Labs network. He is also the co-founder of IHRR where he mostly looks after technologies in DRR/M initiatives. With the core belief that technology and innovation can significantly contribute to more job opportunities & development of Nepal, Uttam has been working in localization of modern technologies, capacity building, and technology transfer training at remotest locations of Nepal.
Uttam has six and a half years of experience working with cutting-edge technology for social good and development in rural communities of Nepal together with development agencies, civil society, and private institutions. Currently, he is leading the technical team at the Nepal Flying Labs in implementing the first-of-its-kind Drone for Tuberculosis diagnosis project in rural Nepal together with local and international organizations. His team also won AUVSI XCELLENCE Humanitarian Operations Award 2018 for the important disaster risk reduction work which was carried out with international partners Medair and Terrasense after the Nepal earthquake. In 2020, his team won two international awards AUVSI XCELLENCE Humanitarian Operations Award 2020 and the 2020 TIACA Air Cargo Sustainability Awards for their work with medical cargo drones in the rural locations of Nepal.