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What happens when the flight plan is with I.T.?

From the tail-end of automated irrigation, IoT-enabled supply-chain monitoring to the front rows of virtual desks, contactless processing.

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DQINDIA Online
New Update
Satyaki Raghunath

From the tail-end of automated irrigation, IoT-enabled supply-chain monitoring to the front rows of virtual desks, contactless processing, biometric boarding, and self-service bag drops, the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB) is already past the layover from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic travel. Let’s sit at the window seat and get a better view from Satyaki Raghunath (Chief Strategy & Development Officer), BIAL.

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Satyaki Raghunath seems like an excited pilot sitting in the cockpit, all set for a long-haul flight to the future. After an extensive two decades of experience in transportation and airport system planning across major cities – London, Chicago, Dubai, Houston, and New Delhi, today Satyaki is responsible for Strategy and Development at BIAL. His dashboard is full of a lot of buttons–from front-end corporate strategy, traffic forecasting & market analyses, route development, cargo and aviation concessionaires, to master planning, the BIAL Centre of Excellence (CoE) comprising Innovation Lab, Business Intelligence and Capacity and Operational Planning–Raghunath is steering the airport amidst a lot of new realities.

Having been at the helm of GMR Airports Ltd, the London Stansted Airport, Dubai Airports, and LeighFisher, a specialist global airport advisory firm–he has his hands in full control of the Turn Indicator at BIAL as the organisation turns a new curve towards technology. We find out more about this ascent—with the current altimeter-reading around smart airport technology, IoT, privacy-balance, cybersecurity-turbulence, etc.

What are the highlights of the technology footprint at the airport? Any recent additions that are bold and exciting?

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Digital transformation became a strategic priority for us at BIAL as passenger volumes grew exponentially between 2016 and 2020. In addition to the capital investment program, we embarked on a comprehensive digital transformation program a few years ago. Our digital transformation is focused on four key areas–enhancement of customer experience; improvement in operational efficiency; increase in revenue generation opportunities and sustainability.

When it comes to offering a delightful passenger experience, the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, fondly known as BLR Airport, is second to none. It sets the benchmark with path-breaking initiatives by leveraging technology with a firm focus on making the airport experience for passengers more seamless and enjoyable.

At BIAL, our aim is to make BLR Airport a Smart Airport — a digitalised, seamlessly connected, intuitive airport. With technology now at the forefront in the aviation industry, BLR Airport- owned and operated by Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) — has embarked on a digital transformation journey

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In conjunction with our partners, we have delivered multiple platforms focusing on enterprise process automation, contactless travel, improved web and mobile app experiences for customers, and business intelligence and data analytics platforms to improve operations. This digital transformation has helped us enhance customer experience at every single touchpoint and at the same time drive operational and commercial performance.

Can you cite how?

Yes, a lot of top-notch tech initiatives have been implemented at BLR Airport. Like Contactless Processing. With greater emphasis on minimum touch and minimum exposure between passengers and Airport personnel, BIAL aims to minimise all physical contact at the Airport. We have also embraced Virtual Information Desk, One-ID Kerb-to-Gate Biometric Boarding Solutions, Self-service Bag Drops, Smart Security Lane with Automated Tray Retrieval, and Smart Washrooms in the same vein. In addition, we have deployed an Automated Irrigation System which has been implemented to provide uniform water distribution across the BLR Airport Campus to maintain our landscape, covering an area of over 122,500 sq. m. This technology has helped BIAL control the wastage of water during irrigation.

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We have embraced One-ID Kerb-to-Gate Biometric Boarding Solutions, Self-service Bag Drops, Smart Security Lane with Automated Tray Retrieval etc.

Is the ‘contactless’ factor pervading all areas of the airport? How much of this pandemic-triggered shift will continue and build up even after 2021?

Passengers can expect a massive transformation in air travel in the post-pandemic world. The future of the airport, post-COVID-19, will include solutions to ensure a seamless and safe journey. BIAL conceptualised a passenger journey built on the authentication of a passenger using facial biometrics. This journey (now the DigiYatraProgramme) was conceptualised as the key enabler to securely and seamlessly facilitate passenger processes at airports. We already have two airlines (Vistara and Air Asia India) who have gone ‘live’ on the Digi Yatra principle and expect other domestic airlines to also be onboarded over the coming months. Once the Digi Yatra Central ID Management Platform (DYCIMP) is developed and approved by the Government of India, we expect this to become a travel ID management platform to allow for seamless travel across multiple modes of transport as well as across the hospitality industry in the longer-term.

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Is it easy to balance privacy, fairness, sustainability, and individual safety while aiming for speed, overall safety, and compliance? Like with technologies like Face Recognition, Biometrics, automated frisking, GPS-tracking?

BIAL will continue to offer innovative ways to simplify the passenger journey while maintaining the highest standards of safety, security, and privacy with equal emphasis on sustainability.

The facial biometric technology at BLR Airport ensures stringent standards of privacy with the fundamental tenets of Privacy by Design. The facial-recognition data is used only for authentication and verification of passengers to assist the boarding process. In addition, the passenger data is deleted within a few hours of the completion of the flight.

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The Digi Yatra Biometric Boarding System was conceived from inception according to ‘Privacy by Design(PbD) principles. This is the only solution in the world that is certified on PbD, and this was achieved in close partnership with a Team of subject matter experts (SMEs) of the Privacy by Design Centre of Excellence of the Ryerson University, Toronto (CA). The technology platform has been designed to meet legal and regulatory requirements of data privacy and security and respects passenger privacy.

The implementation of an IoT-based solution to monitor temperature-controlled cargo enables real-time supply chain visibility.

How do you approach technology strategy when you undertake expansion projects like the T1 expansion?

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Apart from the infrastructure expansion program, we invest substantially in technology to meet demand-related challenges. We have embarked on a comprehensive digital transformation program—focused on three key drivers–enhancement of customer experience; improvement in operational efficiency; and an increase in revenue generation opportunities and sustainability.

What is the ’Airport in a Box' endeavor?

Our new “Airport in a Box” platform is in collaboration with IBM and Kyndryl. This platform will support transforming the end-to-end travel experience for passengers at BLR Airport. As one of the fastest-growing airports in the World, BLR Airport needed a nimble, scalable, and cost-competitive technology and operations environment that can increase its agility and operational flexibility to handle future growth in passenger traffic. To achieve this goal, we chose ‘Airport in a Box’. The new platform will also enable BIAL to improve employee productivity, better utilise IT assets and reduce costs through streamlined inventory control and improved incident management.

How seamless and integrated are tech initiatives with partner services like cargo, catering, retail players, etc.?

We believe technology is crucial for enabling seamless operations and will continue to explore and evaluate in bringing innovations in technology to enhance cargo operations. We work with our cargo partners to continuously improve our operational efficiency. Some of our recent tech interventions in Cargo are in areas like Airport Cargo Community System (ACS), and IoT-based solutions, etc., for cold-chain integrity such as Envirotainer, etc.

Can you share the reasons and progress of initiatives like the IoT-based cargo temperature visibility and Envirotainer? How much cold-chain efficiency and competitive advantage does it provide? Did it need some retrofitting to integrate with existing/third-party systems?

Digitalizing processes are to improve the overall efficiency. It allows shippers to protect their products, ensure quality and meet regulatory compliance.

Envirotainerisa world leader in active cold-chain solutions for air cargo and has provided a significant impetus to the temperature-controlled supply-chain facilities. It is an electronic container that enables pharmaceutical companies and their logistics partners to move temperature-sensitive cargo across the world while maintaining the integrity and quality of products throughout the journey. This essentially means that the temperature is maintained throughout without any variations to create an unbroken cold chain from manufacturing to the point of consumption. Cold-chain cargo has played an important role in facilitating shipments of perishable commodities and pharmaceutical products including COVID-19-related relief cargo both at the domestic and international levels.

Is it more significant and useful in the current scenario of supply-chain challenges?

The implementation of an Internet of Things (IoT) based solution to monitor temperature-controlled cargo enables real-time supply chain visibility and improved cargo operations significantly. The TAG BOX-developed technology will provide shippers and agents real-time temperature data of the shipment from the time it leaves the warehouse to the point it is loaded onto an aircraft at BLR Airport. A battery-powered Tag360 sensor, attached to each small SKU, box, or pallet tracks the product’s temperature, at every step of the journey. Shippers and agents can monitor the end-to-end health of their products through a central monitoring dashboard via a web or mobile interface.

We have introduced an end-to-end Automated Baggage Handling system that is capable of moving 4,500 items of baggage per hour.

Are you able to respond quickly to the real-time data and transparency gained here? Would you consider Blockchain which is being used at many places for supply chain efficiency?

The temperature data gathered from the sensors can be used to create valuable insights on efficient operations and resource management leading to improved customer service. IoT-based sensors capture other critical product parameters and instantly send SMS and or e-mail alerts. With this, the shipper will be able to take corrective actions, instantly. Remote temperature monitoring also allows companies to enhance the visibility of the product and meet regulatory compliance.

We believe technology is crucial for enabling seamless operations and will continue to explore and evaluate and bring innovations in technology to enhance cargo operations.

Can IoT be applied for other areas too—like baggage handling?

We have introduced Automated Baggage Handling at BLR Airport. The end-to-end baggage handling system is capable of moving 4,500 items of baggage per hour. The system features full redundancy, thereby eliminating any single point of failure.

Continuous improvement of passenger experience at BLR Airport has always been a priority for us. Our goal is to use technology to improve the passenger experience and to make airport operations more efficient.

Is Cybersecurity an important concern—especially after the Air India customer data theft? Any extra measures in place for that?

We have a robust cyber security framework in place for BLR Airport. In order to protect sensitive operational or customer-related information from potential misuse, Bangalore International Airport Limited – operator of BLR Airport–has made substantial and significant investments in cyber safety.

Our key programs include Endpoint Security Solution, Perimeter Security with Intrusion Detection/ Prevention System, Secured Web Access Solution, Implementation of the Information Security Management System (ISMS), Threat Analytics and Security Event Management by dedicated IT Security Operation Center (IT SOC).

What makes you excited about the future of travel and how the Bengaluru Airport gets there? Anything interesting lined up next that you can share a glimpse of?

With a vision to make BLR Airport a Smart Airport–a digitalised, seamlessly connected, the intuitive airport which is health-risk-free, BIAL will continue to lead from the front in transforming air travel in India by leveraging technology to create value for passengers, visitors, and partners.

At BIAL, we strongly believe that the future of airport operations in the post-COVID-19 world will need to include many solutions to ensure a seamless and safe journey, centered around customer experience, operational efficiency, and health and safety. This is where technology will play a key role in transforming air travel into a seamless and more humane experience. The key elements of this future vision are new approaches to passenger screening and processing, the use of big data, and vastly simplified baggage handling. Taken together they represent a radically improved passenger experience, one that expands capacity without having to build new infrastructure.

Satyaki Raghunath is Chief Strategy & Development Officer, BIAL

By Pratima Harigunani

pratimah@cybermedia.co.in

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