HÀ NỘI — Điện Biên Province is set to carry out around 6,000 UAV flights under a newly-approved sandbox programme aimed at testing low-altitude economy applications.

The Điện Biên Provincial People's Committee on Tuesday authorised a controlled pilot programme for digital technology-based products and services using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), targeting a flight safety rate of over 99 per cent during the trial period.

The initiative is seen as a pioneering effort to unlock the potential of the low-altitude economy and help shape regulatory frameworks for the emerging sector.

The pilot programme will run until May 31 next year, focusing on four sectors: agriculture, logistics, healthcare and digital mapping.

Pilot activities include transporting agricultural products, farming inputs, medicines, medical supplies, laboratory samples and essential goods; supporting seeding, pesticide spraying, fertilisation, crop monitoring and pest detection; as well as conducting terrain surveys, digital mapping and the development of digital elevation models (DEM).

The province will also gradually establish a database to support flight management, flight monitoring, digital mapping and digital terrain modelling within the pilot areas.

The sandbox programme will be implemented in selected agricultural and healthcare zones across the province.

Vietnam Post is the lead organisation responsible for implementing and operating the pilot programme. FPT Corporation, together with other UAV manufacturers, is in charge of technical operations, providing technology solutions, UAV equipment, and flight control software systems.

Earlier, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) selected Điện Biên to implement the controlled pilot project for low-altitude economy development using UAV technology.

As reported by the Government News, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Bùi Hoàng Phương described the low-altitude economy as an emerging field with strong interdisciplinary characteristics and substantial development potential.

He said Điện Biên was chosen both for its unique geographical conditions and for its potential to provide a pilot model that could be replicated elsewhere in Việt Nam.

Phương noted that UAV technology had already been applied in many locations. Therefore, the project focuses not only on testing the technology itself but, more importantly, on developing practical application models and evaluating the effectiveness of integrating UAVs into economic activities, production and daily life. — VNS