The airport professional's source for airport industry news, articles, events, and careers.
Issue link: http://airportbusiness.epubxp.com/i/532707
INDUSTRY INSIDER 24 airportbusiness June/July 2015 work—their procurement cycles, their orga- nizational structures and their emerging technological needs. The only way to do that effectively is to really immerse yourself in the airport marketplace. The challenge for companies is it's often either impractical or unappealing to get that type of exposure and insight into the market. What that leads to is the development of good solutions, potentially valuable solutions, that never make it into airport hands. Our goal behind the Accelerator is to marry these innovations and new ideas with airports and do so early and often. That includes con- necting technologies with airports and having conversations but also cultivating those ideas into viable commercial solutions. WHAT TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVA- TIONS COULD REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE AT AIRPORTS? There are so many innovations that are happening inside airports as well as in other sectors that could improve a number of key areas. One of the top things I have on my white board is customer service—the reality is airports are in the business of customer service; serving hundreds of millions of passengers every year. Another one is opera- tions. There are a lot things happening behind the scenes that keep flights on time, ensure bags arrive at their right destination, and so on. The other elements include safety and security, which are big things from a regulatory standpoint. In those areas alone, there's lots of oppor- tunity. When you talk about customer service, mobility is a key initiative that could improve the passenger experience. There are a number of mobile apps that will connect customers with amenities at the airport. But there are also some that will guide travelers to the right checkpoints and do other things that can make life better for everyone involved. Some other areas include retail and commer- cial operations. These are the vendors providing services within the airport community. Another one is automation and monitoring. This falls into the realm of UAVs or other technologies that have the ability, for instance, to scan the perimeter of an airport without an individual doing that. Some of the automated capabilities that we're seeing in other industries include unmanned, remote-controlled snow removal systems or de-icing systems. We're also looking at landside operations as an area of interest. Another one that I have on my white board is emergency response and medical issues. Technology and services that give airports the ability to respond to anything that happens on their premises. Improving the passenger experience gets its own bullet. Right now, the universe of solutions spans many different areas. We're trying to zero in on those that are most impactful to airports. The best thing for us to do is to listen to the airports. That's the stage we're in right now—getting that airport feedback. HOW WILL YOU GATHER AIRPORT FEEDBACK? We have issued surveys to gather some statistics on what airports need. But I'm a big proponent of face-to-face conversations and meeting with airport directors directly to understand what their challenges are. It's one thing to have data points. It's another thing to walk the tarmac with operators and understand where their challenges lie. So for me it's a combination of convenient data collection and getting up close and personal with airport personnel to understand their specific needs. HOW WILL YOU ACCELERATE MOVING NEW TECHNOLOGY INTO AIRPORTS? There are a few key tenets that we would look to provide innovators with. One is an education on the market itself. If you go in blind without an understanding of the procurement cycles, the organizational structure, and the political or regulatory constraints that airports deal with, you are already at a disadvantage. The second is men- toring and introduction. I believe a key component centers on the lean start-up. The concept there is moving away from a 5-year business plan and engaging customers early and often. The goal is to make sure you're building something that people care about before you invest time and resources. Going forward with a solution and taking it out to airports when it isn't viable or isn't valuable is a waste of everybody's time. So, after education, the next task is getting the word out to airports and getting direct feed- back. A key component is listening to what the airport's are saying then coming back to them with what we thought we heard and how our solution could meet those needs. Then, after education, mentoring and intro- ductions, we're looking at how do we marry that technology with ongoing government initiatives? Is there a way for us to address multiple challenges in a more efficient way? Finally, the broader goal is, if this is a viable and valuable solution for airports as a whole, moving it toward a commercialized solution; making it readily available and easily accessible for airports. I think that's one of the keys that we have for the Accelerator and I think that's probably the main reason we picked 'Accelerator' as a name. We want to get new developments into their hands as quickly as possible, but we also want to make sure it's valuable before it gets there. LET'S TALK ABOUT CHRIS f Always Taking Notes. I'm a huge user of Evernote. That's my mental sanity tool where I capture all my thoughts, my to-do's, any good ideas, and quotes that come my way that I really like. It's on my laptop but it's also on my phone. I can access it from anywhere. f Always Connected. The ability to access the Internet [while traveling] and do it for free is a game-changer. You don't even skip a beat in your workday. You can connect with family while you're on the road. The availability of WiFi has really changed my whole travel experience. I can't imagine going through an airport and not having it now. f Always Busy Renovating (at least for now). We just bought an old home, built in the 1890s, and we're in the process of renovating that. That's been a passion I didn't know I had. It takes a lot of time. But, the home needed some love and it's been a very rewarding effort.