Sweden’s Region of Gävleborg is requesting information on drone-as-a-service solutions for aerial mobility and social services. The local authority is interested in innovative drone delivery concepts, associated infrastructure, sensor integration, operational experience, and cost estimations. The deadline for responses is April 30, 2025.
The initiative aims to:
- Increase public officials’ knowledge of innovative air mobility and its implications.
- Develop and adapt urban planning methods concerning landing sites and airspace management.
- Explore the potential for a drone service based on the needs of the municipalities and Region Gävleborg, while also assessing opportunities for jointly utilized drone service between the public and private sectors.
The local authority intends to launch real-world drone operations starting 2026.
According to the request for information:
“The region of Gävleborg, covering a large geographical area, offers promising opportunities for aerial mobility and drone delivery services. Based on the regional layout, several drone delivery concepts can be envisioned. For local deliveries within urban and semi-urban areas, drones can operate within a 5–15 km radius, ideal for transporting medical supplies, test samples, and small equipment between hospitals, healthcare centers, and smaller care filials. These short-range operations would ensure fast and reliable logistics support at a local scale.
“At a broader level, a point-to-multi-point delivery model can cover distances of 100–150 km across the region. This regional approach would connect central hospitals with multiple peripheral healthcare facilities, enabling rapid redistribution of critical resources and improving overall healthcare accessibility.
“By combining local and regional drone networks, Region Gävleborg can enhance its healthcare logistics system, reduce delivery times, and increase resilience across its health infrastructure. To fully realize the potential of drone delivery in the region of Gävleborg, it is important to also explore the possibility to combine societal needs with private and commercial interests.
“The healthcare system — with its demand for fast, reliable, and safe deliveries between hospitals, healthcare centers, and care filials — represents a strong societal need. At the same time, private and commercial sectors, such as logistics companies, e-commerce, and local businesses, can benefit from the same aerial infrastructure for transporting goods quickly and efficiently across both short (5–15 km), intermideary (15-100 km) and regional (100–150+ km) distances.
“By building a shared drone delivery network that serves both public and private users, the actors in Gävleborg, can achieve greater system efficiency, reduce operational costs, and create new business opportunities. This integrated approach also ensures that investments in aerial mobility are economically sustainable while strengthening resilience and accessibility for society as a whole.
“We are requesting supplier proposed solutions for innovative aerial mobility concepts feasible in the region of Gävleborg. The information in the proposal should include;
- Type of drone delivery concept and associated performance (Payload capacity vs flight distance)
- Infrastructure needed for operations
- Sensor integration
- Operational experience including flight permits
- Envisioned drone delivery cost for the proposed solution Procedure
“Interested parties are requested to submit their responses by 2025-04-30. Responses should be submitted via email, see contact information below, with the subject line: “RFI Response – Aerial mobility services”. Contact information Rasmus Lundqvist, Senior researcher at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden rasmus.lundqvist@ri.se (cc: hanna.muller@ri.se)”
For more information
https://www.regiongavleborg.se/globalassets/samverkanswebben/regional-utveckling/infrastruktur-och-transporter/request-for-information-rfi.pdf
(Image: Shutterstock)
