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iTEC boosts its iTEC SkyNex system in Madrid
iTEC boosts its iTEC SkyNex system in Madrid
- This week, the iTEC collaboration held its third symposium and the iTEC SkyNex Build Phase kick-off. For two days, the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid witnessed analysis and conferences on the past, present, and future of the alliance with representatives from the eight member countries of iTEC
Madrid, 4 November 2024─ 2024 has been a year of changes at iTEC with the appointment of its director, Marcel Bakker, from the Dutch provider LVNL, last May and the strengthening of its structures with new managers. Additionally, in March, the collaboration was expanded with the inclusion of NAV CANADA, increasing its airspace to 26 million square kilometers managed from 8 countries and 27 control centers. In the first week of November, we held the third iTEC symposium and iTEC Build Phase Kick-off in Madrid to analyze future challenges and the deployment of iTEC SkyNex with conferences, panels, and workshops.
“Our deepest condolences to the Spanish and Valencian people in this difficult time. We stand in solidarity with you during this challenging moment,” said Marcel Bakker, director of iTEC, in his inaugural speech. Marcel Bakker highlighted our shared history over the years and how the common technical architecture will help achieve the objectives: platform as a service, cloud readiness, service orientation, and openness for third-party component integration. Marcel Bakker explained the importance of aligning decisions and actions with the interests of ANSP partners and analyzed the state of the collaboration and the challenges ahead.
Enrique Maurer, Director General of ENAIRE, also offered his condolences on behalf of ENAIRE to all those affected by the severe floods, remembering the employees working at the Valencia Terminal Area Control Center and the families living in the region. ‘I want to acknowledge the incredible hard work and dedication of our teams. Our collective efforts reflect a unified vision for a safer, more efficient, and sustainable future in air navigation, working as a team towards a common system vision’, said Enrique Maurer about the evolution of iTEC.
The CEO of Indra, as a founding technology partner of iTEC, José Vicente de los Mozos, also spoke, along with the Executive Director of the SESAR Deployment Manager, Mariagrazia La Piscopia, about the portfolio of common projects, and Andreas Boschen from the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking about the European ATM Master Plan.
The members of the Collaboration are taking a step forward in their commitment and future strategy to promote safer and more sustainable aviation. The start of the build phase phase of iTEC SkyNex further strengthens the collaborative commitment among the members of the iTEC Alliance to develop and implement trajectory-based operations and an open, modern system architecture.
The system is designed to improve interoperability, reduce costs for air navigation service providers, increase efficiency, and promote a greener and more sustainable air traffic management system. We are facing the next generation of borderless air traffic management that prepares the evolution of airspace architecture towards the European Digital Sky. The program, based on development projects already initiated and funded by SESAR and the Connecting Europe Facility, and the research initiatives iSNAP (iTEC SkyNex ATC Platform) and DEVICE (Delegation Virtual Centres), will transform airspace control in Europe and Canada.
The representatives of the air navigation service providers that form the iTEC collaboration enjoyed a guided tour of the Reina Sofía Museum and a subsequent dinner where the awards ceremony took place. The Together as One iTEC Awards recognise the hard work, dedication, and passion that have driven excellence in our iTEC community. This has culminated in receiving a total of 36 nominations across the 6 award categories, so my thanks go to those who took the time to provide the nominations and recognise your colleagues of their achievements.
ENAIRE, PANSA, and ORO NAVIGACIJA were awarded for the DEVICE project. In the picture, José Luis Rodríguez Castro, Director of Systems at ENAIRE; Maciej Rodak, Vice President of the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA); and Saulius Batavicius, Chief Executive Officer at ORO NAVIGACIJA, with the award.
The German provider DFS was recognized for being the first to operationalize iTEC in lower airspace. Kuldeep Gharatya, Technical Services Director at NATS (L), presented the award to Dirk Mahns, Deutsche Flugsicherung Chief of Operations.
Other individuals recognized for their performance and personal contributions to iTEC included the Commercial Management Group (CMG); the iTEC Program Manager, Per Ingar; Andrés Grijalba (TSM & Management Group); and David Escribano from Indra.
About iTEC
iTEC is an alliance formed by eight air navigation service providers: DFS (Germany), Enaire (Spain), NATS (United Kingdom), LVNL (Netherlands), PANSA (Poland), Avinor (Norway), Oro Navigacija (Lithuania), and NAV CANADA (Canada), with Indra as the technological provider. Together, they have developed and are deploying the next-generation air traffic management system, iTEC SkyNex, which enables more collaborative and efficient flight control.
For further information, please contact:
iTEC SkyNex Communication