Analysis and Recommendations for Developing Integrated Airport Information Systems (2008)

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SECTION 3 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS How Conclusions Were Reached The following conclusions are based on two primary sources - hundreds of hours of research and interviews, and the ATCI team members’ combined 140 years of aviation and Information Technology experience. Some of the conclusions were reached quickly while others required hours of discussion and collaboration. Conclusions The Conclusions from the project include the following: • Integration is primarily about information with technology being secondary. • Data can come from many sources, and it is critical to identify the rules of that data to determine what data should be used and when, where, and how. • Integration efforts should also evaluate information processes and identify systems that can share data freely. • Managers need self-configurable dashboards, as they require a wide variety of information. One size will not fit all. • Airports could realize substantial cost savings and operational efficiency by integrating financial management systems with operations. • The aviation industry is beginning to work on some integration standards and should continue this effort. The Findings and Applications of the Research are found in the associated Handbook. The Manager’s Dashboard Although every airport manager needs the same “core” key data, their priorities are different, which drives different information needs. Managers need the flexibility to choose the right information and have it readily available. This need for flexibility created a vision of a fully integrated airport that would become the manager’s dashboard. It is important to understand what the manager’s dashboard is and is not. The manager’s dashboard is a vision; the capability for a manager to quickly and easily access the information that is regularly used from the desktop computer. The display of this information would be configured to the manager’s needs, showing the data that reflects individual priorities. To bring the information to the display, automated processes would gather the data needed from many different airport systems and then calculate or develop the metrics which that manager has identified and display them in the desired format on the manager’s computer. Coupled with that display will be an ability to “drill down” to the levels of detail required for analysis. However, a manager’s dashboard that displays all the needed information from a fully integrated airport does not exist. At the time the research was conducted in early 2008, no airport had a working manager’s dashboard integrating all the business-critical information from an airport’s many different systems and displaying it in a self-configurable format on the manager’s desktop computer. However, the technology needed to create an airport manager’s dashboard already exists and some airports have successfully completed the

systems integration. Many lessons were learned from these successes. Recommendations The following recommendations have industry-wide implications and are made to the leaders of industry policy-setting organizations, airport executives, the ACRP, and IT companies: • Promote research into Capital Budget Information and Decision Procedures – Research and interviews revealed an industry-wide need for a system to aid airport operators in managing the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). Currently there are no standards, thresholds, procedures or best practices to make effective, timely and informed capital improvement decisions about changes at an airport. Airport Operators need management information systems to allocate financial resources, approve or deny changes and generally keep capital projects on track and on budget. This system would require the integration of many airport systems that currently operate independently. The results of this research could be developed into a volume that would supplement this Handbook. • Support the development of industry-wide integration standards. • Encourage the FAA to allow tail numbers to be included in the data feeds to an airport. This would save millions of dollars in unnecessary software purchases and allow airports to collect data real time rather than waiting 90 days after the flight, which is the current practice. • Foster research in the financial arena to develop algorithms and detailed procedures for back office integration. • Suggest research to delineate the integration differences between common-use airports and non-common use airports. This research should evaluate methods that common-use airports use to successfully integrate their systems and evaluate these methods to apply that knowledge to airports that are not common-use. • Consider use of a website devoted to airport systems integration. This site would continually update information in a central location and increase interaction among IT professionals.