Here's how drone delivery will change the face of global logistics.

Byline: Jon Liao

The power of technology to bring positive change is well documented and well understood across the planet. However, when its benefits are distributed unequally across different strata of society, technology creates barriers, dividing peoples and inhibiting social development and economic growth. This so-called "digital divide" is something we at JD.com, a Chinese e-commerce company, and the World Economic Forum are striving to narrow.

In our experience, we have seen how the right technology, employed in the right way, can instead create bridges. A recent example is commercial drone delivery.

By using drones to deliver goods, even the most far-flung, hard to reach places in remote and rural areas become instantly accessible and connected.

Speedy and efficient alternatives to using automobiles, trucks, and trains to traverse treacherous terrain, drones can get to these places in minutes. We see drones as part of a larger smart logistics initiative, bringing people, places and goods closer together, faster and more conveniently.

Whether it's an emergency situation, where minutes shaved can mean lives spared, to simply being able to speed necessities and goods to people who need them, drones make impractical routes practical.

Further, with the cost of deliveries in some countries' rural areas estimated to be five times greater than in urban areas, using drones at scale can help equalize economic opportunity and access to affordable consumer goods between regions by bringing down the cost of rural logistics.

We recently had the opportunity to again witness the profound impact that this technology can have on people's lives. On January 8, after working together alongside local government officials for more than half a year, JD.com in collaboration with the World Economic Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) successfully completed the first ever government-approved drone delivery flight in Indonesian history.

This test delivery to the Mis Nural Falah Leles elementary school in Jagabita Village, Parung Panjang, Indonesia, opened the door to the possibilities the technology holds. Students who watched as the drone brought backpacks for their school excitedly asked when they could start getting packages delivered to their homes this way.

Timothy Reuter, Head of Drones and...