Preface: Smart traffic hubs

Abstract

An airport is an example of a traffic hub. In fact, a large airport like Changi Airport in Singapore is like a small city with its own hospitality, retail, logistics, transport and much more. With the growth of air traffic, alongside increasing competition and market challenges, and the need to cater for travellers' rapidly evolving expectations, airports need to expand and enhance their appeal to customers. In addition to infrastructure investments, Changi Airport has also been investing in technology to improve the customers' experience and enhance operations efficiency. Examples of these are data analytics and cloud solutions, robotics, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, internet of things and many more. However, the deployment of new technologies alone will not be sufficient to keep Changi ahead, as IT systems and applications become more readily available and commoditised. Increasingly, the "smartness" of an airport will hinge on the strategic capability to collect data and on how intelligently the data can be exploited. To build data as a capability, Changi Airport adopts a Smart Airport Framework. SMART stands for Service, Safety & Security Management through Analytics and Resource Transformation. The article uses examples to explain the core elements of the framework. The Smart Airport Framework has helped to focus clearly on the key outcomes and ensures that Changi continues to invest in the enablers needed to support Smart outcomes. Just as Singapore is pursuing Smart Nation initiatives to improve the lives of the citizens, Changi Airport has been and will continue to pursue Smart Airport ideas to improve the experience of the customers and to enhance operational efficiency at the airport.