By Jean Luc Devisscher
17th June, 2021

More and more airports are moving to collaborative decision-making not only because it is a requirement but also because of the fact that airports and all their stakeholders have a strong need for visibility on airport operations. A lot of time and Information is lost because of many parties at the airport not communicating at the right level.

If there is one thing that COVID-19 has brought to the aviation world, then it is the understanding that collaboration brings along (much) more gains in efficiency and saves a lot of time. In a world where traffic is down to a fraction of what it was, lately, it has been easier to manage resources effectively. Because of reduced time pressure, there is more time to reflect on the past and think of better ways to use the resources optimally by collaborating together. A lot of separate ATC organizations have started realizing that a closer collaboration would produce beneficial outcomes.

CDM is all about achieving greater efficiencies by streamlining operations, sharing information and, using that information to do operations better and faster. The collaboration, in terms of sharing the information, leads to a drastic reduction of operational inefficiencies which ultimately reduces the emissions of CO2 significantly. This is one of the ways through which CDM aims to achieve efficiency and environmental sustainability.

However, before any airport starts with a CDM project, there are five key tips that should be kept in mind for a successful rollout. These tips are simple but often forgotten which is why some initiatives might lead to a substantial loss of effectiveness.

• Get aligned. You have to set your goals for the project, so it is imperative that you are clear in terms of what you want to achieve. Also, identify the key stakeholders and owners from the start of the project. This would make it easier to roll out and follow up the project with a higher degree of success. Therefore, having a great team with such clarifications makes the difference between success and failure.
• Get committed. CDM is not a short-term project, so ensure that the team members are committed to the entire start-up phase and are willing to continue for a long period of time. As the project progresses, keep the track of key performance indicators (KPIs) along the way to understand their impact.
• Ownership CDM is a long-term project. It requires a follow-up for as long as the process is implemented. Just like with so many things, encouraging all stakeholders to strictly follow the process is critical for long-term positive impact. Therefore, nominate one cross-stakeholder owner to keep on reporting and make sure that all stakeholders are aligned to deliver.
• Concept before platform. Having a CDM platform is the best way to know what is happening at your airport and what you are measuring. You can identify the areas that need improvement and stakeholders can devise a plan based on the information they have. In the process, they can have a clear understanding of the roles, metrics, KPIs, process, and the utility of the CDM data. Once that has been defined, you can start with the platform implementation. This can cost a bit of time but starting with a clear, aligned document of what CDM should do and what is expected of all stakeholders makes a big difference.
• Visibility. As with any project, visibility is important. All the stakeholders should have a clear view of what is happening through the use of a dashboard so that they can report to their management and take corrective action whenever necessary.

CDM is not a static solution. It is very dynamic because the data sources can be added continually to fine-tune the overview and processes. With an increased focus on sustainability, we will see many more environmental parameters being added so that the CDM dashboard can become a multi-faceted dashboard that allows different stakeholders to collect different sets of data. Therefore, this will facilitate the needs of multiple stakeholders.

It is imperative that before starting the CDM project, you should define the parameters, goals, metrics, concepts, and identify the stakeholders. Also, make sure that you measure and follow up upon using the right platform that offers a great deal of flexibility to add more parameters as needed.

If you choose EMMA, you will be working with leading consultants who can help you from the early phase of conceptualizing the project to the full integration of the platform in the long run.

If you want to know how we are helping airports with a full roll-out, get in touch with us and let’s discuss the successful integration of CDM.