Drones. A few years ago they were tipped to bring huge disruption to the home delivery industry and no small amount of disruption to the skies of our cities and towns. Roll forward to today and the practical and legal (of course) complexities of flying the expected shoe boxes and pizza boxes have meant that outside of certain trial cities (see San Fran's now-banned delivery robots) the urban delivery market, at least in the UK, is still largely based around the traditional man in a van. 

In fact recently, drones have been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons as recreational drone users become as irritating in the local park as jet skis at the beach. And then there was the particularly high-stakes "prankster" who brought Gatwick airport to a standstill just before Christmas.

So, how great to see that drone start-up Zipline is showing how drone technology can be used to its very best effect delivering medical supplies to hard-to-reach areas of Ghana. Now with up to 600 flights a day Zipline is not only solving that real world problem that many tech start-ups desperately seek, but it is also saving lives. 

Zipline, we salute you.