Intelligent airports

Providing stakeholder co-operation and collaboration

Enterprises are shifting towards connected platforms, where people, processes and ‘things’ can connect and collaborate, airports included. The complicated community of stakeholders – airport operators, airlines, groundhandlers, passengers, authorities and regulators – can all benefit from removing the barriers to information flow.

Airports can manage passenger movement, optimise operations and implement better emergency communications.

Airlines can provide a hassle-free customer experience by relying on infrastructure such as beacons for automated notifications.

Passengers can get real-time updates about estimated waiting time at security lines, locations of specific airline check-in counters, gates or baggage belts.

And retail concessions and restaurants can use location-based services to promote offers, which will lead to increased interaction with passengers and a subsequent increase in revenue.

Critical passenger or situational information can be shared directly between relevant parties in real-time – getting the right information to the right people, exactly when it is needed.

Open APIs – the key to connecting people with processes

For this to happen, systems need to be de-siloed and communication tools, such as instant messaging, voice, document sharing, video and alerts, need to be integrated directly into applications and systems.

This is possible with open APIs beginning to come from some of the world’s leading communications vendors – giving technology partners and third-party providers the opportunity to make communication and collaboration tools a central feature of digital airport services, not a disconnected afterthought.

With open APIs in cloud-based communication platforms, developers can add real-time communication features in their own applications without needing to build or extend backend infrastructure and interfaces.

Open APIs allow for the integration with current in-house and third-party apps, providing a separate and secure environment – allowing multiple users to access the platform at the same time.

These ‘open’ platforms enable developers to extend these connections to stand-alone infrastructures, opening the door to new working models based with innovations such as IoT, AI and task-automating bots.

Having open APIs behind communications platforms can also allow airport operators and passengers to benefit from proactive notification services which incorporate security devices, operational equipment and even fire safety alarms into one connected communications platform – with the goal of increasing safety, avoiding production downtimes and securing buildings.

Intelligent airports – not just a vision, but a reality

To meet these challenges, airports need innovative solutions and infrastructure must be used more intelligently.

Airports need to use technology to make the most of their budget and resources, to manage rising volumes of travellers, meet the increasing demands of tech-savvy passengers and commercial tenants.

The need for real-time information exchange will see airports adopt new technologies for a free-flow of communication.

Innovations that integrate smart devices and share information at every point of a passenger’s journey, and enable greater communication between civil aviation stakeholders, will play a vital role.

But rolling out the right infrastructure needs careful planning, an eye on future developments and a security-first approach – from customer-facing services, right down to the hardware.

The intelligent airport is more than a vision, it’s a must have. With the right infrastructure, it has the potential to become a global reality.