May 24, 2024
by
Christopher Carey
Zurich airport is set to transform how it uses data with a complete overhaul of its ICT network.
The project will be completed over the next two years, and will encompass all aspects of the airport’s operations.
“[The platform] will be the basis for almost all digital innovations that we’re developing,” Zurich airport’s Head of ICT Michael Hofmeier told Cities Today.
“The difficulty is that first of all we have to get to the data, which is distributed in many different systems, and we need to make sure that the data is valid.
“Once we have documented this and put it into our cloud-based platform then we can actually start developing business intelligence and machine-learning algorithms.
“We’re also currently building a frontend for the airport operations plan, and here we’re trying to provide outlook data for our operations people to make sure they know at the right time what type of passenger is in airport, and incorporating information about connecting flight times, delays, how much luggage [passengers] have with them, to make sure everything runs smoothly.
“The first features of the plan are already operational and will now be further developed with new functions being added every four months.”
While appreciating the advantages of digitalisation, Hofmeier acknowledged there are limitations.
“All digitalisation is actually done to create efficiency, and if we have the most efficient system, we have the most dependency on that system – if it doesn’t work, nothing works,” he added.
“So if you have decentralised processes and one system fails, then it’s not that bad, because everything else is working.
“It’s not uniquely an airport problem, it’s a societal problem, but resilience and efficiency can sometimes contradict each other.”
Looking at how the private sector views digital progress within airports, Nvidia’s EMEA Director of Smart Spaces Charbel Aoun says any innovation must be purpose driven.
“When you bring innovation, you need to make sure you’re delivering solutions to problems.
“There is a need, there is an outcome and an output-driven conversation – it’s not a hobby, it’s not technology for the sake of technology.
“When we look at airports, at least in Europe, expansion is a big challenge, as well as hiring/retaining staff and maintaining a certain level of customer experience.
“These three areas are perfect ground for [the implementation of] digitalisation, since airports are rich in data.”
This view was echoed by Dell Technologies’ EMEA Team Leader for AI Computer Vision Marco Krijgsman, who says that the volume of data available within airports is a key consideration.
“There is so much data in play that you need to be very smart with how you process this.
“So instead of bringing all of the data into models centrally, you should bring the AI models to the data.
“You need to think about your infrastructure, connectivity and security, particularly in airports, every division needs to be considered ‘critical’ infrastructure.”
