Drones have certainly developed a bad reputation of late. The unmanned aircraft have become known for their potential to take life. But if used properly, drones can save lives

In rural parts of the world, building a reliable road infrastructure seems night impossible. Andreas Raptopoulos has another idea: vast networks of drones

People told Andreas Raptopoulos it was a crazy idea when he and a few of his colleagues at Matternet started talking a couple of years ago about creating invisible highways for drones to deliver critical goods. But one billon people have to deal with lousy or nonexistent roads. And billions more in urban areas are tormented by traffic congestion. So Raptopoulos and his team forged on.

Speakers at the TEDGlobal conference have been debating the positive use of drones in society. Delegates heard how drones, more usually seen as military tools, are increasingly playing a positive role in civilian life. They are offering new ways of transportation and carrying out vital conservation work

Andreas Raptopoulos wants to serve the 1 billion people on Earth with no access to all-season roads — the one-seventh of the world’s population that is too often cut off from critical medicines, supplies and goods.

Going off-road used to mean tearing up dirt tracks in a powerful four-by-four or gigantic monster truck. For two ambitious tech start-ups however, the term has come to comprise something more subtle and potentially revolutionary. While the idea may sound far-fetched to those unfamiliar with the latest in civilian drone technology, preliminary vehicle testing has already taken place.

Matternet wants to reframe the way the world looks at drones and use them to connect people living way off the grid

The drone glides through the sky before descending silently upon a poverty-stricken community to drop its load — but this particular unmanned aircraft is delivering medicine and chocolate

Fleet of drones could accelerate humanitarian responses and prove cheaper than roads – but research on safety needed

That is the idea behind Matternet. The drones would move matter like the Internet moves bits. Andreas Raptopoulos argues the cost would be minuscule compared with paving over a huge portion of the planet.

Drones can deliver medicine and emergency supplies -- and perhaps shake up the retail world, too. So says the leader of Matternet, a startup creating a network of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Two start-ups want to replace road transport with swarms of tiny autonomous helicopters. Meet the organizations with sky-high ambitions.

We heard a presentation about a new mode of package transport called Matternet. MatterNet proposes to build a network of ground stations for a fleet of autonomous flying drones which can deliver packages of food, medicine ad other critical items

Last week, Google invited about 50 entrepreneurs, innovators, and scientists to the deluxe CordeValle resort in the mountains south of San Jose.

Matternet, a Silicon Valley start-up, has proposed a network of drones to deliver food and medicine in isolated regions around the world that are now inaccessible because they have no roads.

Where Matternet is going, it doesn’t need roads. But the people there need food and medicine. And these drones can bring it to them.

Kurzweil, Diamandis and other tech dignitaries at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. lauded the latest class of graduates from the summer-long program for training entrepreneurs on how to create a company that will have an impact the lives of a billion people.

Singularity University project team creates a way to get medicine to people who need it, very fast and without operator control.