When drones were legalized in Kenya, smiles and lofty talks on how bright our future in tech illuminated were exchanged. The news ferried opportunities, among them delivery of medical supplies, improved film and photography, next-level E-commerce; all which can be made possible using drones. The benefits stretch further into drone usage to spray fertilizers, geographical mapping, and assessment of damage in areas struck by disaster.Little did we know that the clinks of glasses in celebration were ephemeral; fleeting like wind. For openers, the rules and regulations proposed by KCAA were stringent and only a few citizens would be able to comply. That turned our faces ashen, but then the coup de grace came when the National Assembly rejected the proposed regulations.And now we silently sit and watch the flashy, classy and dashy future that had conjured in our minds scale off. We remain helpless with one question rankling with us: What does the rejection of the regulations mean? We've been thrown into limbo, unaware whether drones are legal or illegal.This leads me to the crux of regulations. Should we really, as a country, be so quick to bake regulations into the fast-paced technological advancements? For clearly, these regulations have proven to be a ball and chain, crippling progress.Let's travel back in time. Years ago the government, through the then acting finance minister John Michuki, proposed that regulations be stamped on the mobile money service MPESA. The shocking idea came at a time Kenyan's lives had changed for the better as MPESA had solved money problems we thought couldn't be solved in a million years. Some newspapers published and threw the blame to big banks, accusing them of being the source of the pressure to regulate the new technology. This was because they felt MPESA had somehow knocked them off balance, and who loves tough competition! Good thing though, the minister's idea tanked.In as much as deregulation on technology will catalyze our progress, regulation also plays a major role. To give a for instance, should drones be legalized and no measures put in place, we will be vulnerable to terrorism and other crimes. One film expert shared his point of view on the Chamwada Report program by journalist Alex Chamwada, that since a drone can carry a camera, it can also carry a bomb! Other scary issues are like that of the possibility of a civilian drone colliding with an airplane, or civilians using it for espionage activities.However, letting the vast window of opportunities just slip by is unwise. We should think of our future and get on a rigorous process of research and talks with all the stakeholders, and come up with regulations that will serve the interests of everyone. A taskforce of tech experts should be put in place with a mandate to invent the future, to be pro-active thinkers who can foresee tomorrow and prepare the government. This will solve the problem dubbed 'pacing problem,' which is that of technology moving faster than the government and regulators can keep up with, putting us squarely in the catch-up game.Kenya can benchmark with Rwanda, a smaller nation which is doing amazing things with drones, including delivery of much-needed blood to remote transfusion centers.How great will it be to one day purchase online and have a delivery made at your doorstep by a drone? How many lives can be saved if we can deliver drugs and vaccines using drones? The future is bright, though a huge barrier stands in our way. We should borrow the words of Ben Carson and either go around, over, under, or through the barrier.