PASS at ATM World Congress
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- Published: March 19, 2015
Last week, Region I Assistant and International Federation of Air Traffic Safety Electronic Associations (IFATSEA) Director of the Americas Carlos Aguirre attended the ATM World Congress in Madrid, Spain. This gathering of leaders from the air traffic management, or ATM, industry is an important event organized by the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO) and the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA). Through an alliance with IFATSEA, PASS is allowed access to the international aviation community and the opportunity to provide important input.
“As director of the Americas, I am able to communicate the issues important to PASS on a global level,” said Aguirre. “Aviation is a worldwide industry. PASS continues to work closely with IFATSEA to make sure we have a voice to promote aviation safety, security and efficiency from the perspective of the specialists who install, maintain, monitor and control aviation systems.IFATSEA represents its members’ views in major regulatory and industry forums, such as this Congress, and at the International Civil Aviation Organization [ICAO], where it has official Observer status.”
The theme of this year’s Congress was “Smart Choices in a Challenging Environment.” Attendees and speakers at the event included leaders from ATCA, CANSO, the FAA, ICAO and other major aviation organizations and groups. Ed Bolton, the FAA’s associate administrator for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), spoke about international governance standards for System Wide Information Management (SWIM), describing how data does not necessarily have to be the same format but does need to be translated seamlessly from domain to domain so that operators have the right information to sequence traffic throughout the globe.
Steve Bradford, FAA chief scientist for NextGen, spoke about the opportunities to turn aircraft into nodes of information. Planes automatically collect an array of data that can be downloaded in real time and be harnessed by not just the airlines but the larger air traffic community to enhance safety and efficiency. “He described using Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) as the building block for data exchange but cautioned that security cannot be compromised,” explained Aguirre. “Each message must go through a rigorous verification process. Even data from trusted sources like the Department of Defense and National Weather Service would need to be similarly verified.”
During the Congress, IFATSEA Executive Secretary Thorsten Wehe of DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH, the German air navigation service provider, announced that his organization will be hosting IFATSEA General Assembly in Berlin in November. The General Assembly is held annually and is the largest gathering of aviation technical specialists and engineers in the world. “PASS will join the other 60 IFATSEA affiliates at the General Assembly as our committees and workgroups share information and develop policies, with the ultimate aim of improving air navigation services, systems, maintenance procedures and training methods,” said Aguirre. “PASS is committed to continuing to play an important role in the global aviation community.”
Pictured: Region I Assistant and IFATSEA Director of the Americas Carlos Aguirre and IFATSEA President Daniel Boulet.