Brisbane, Australia | June 20, 2018–Australia and New Zealand’s army of field maintenance technicians will for the first time be able to utilize the Internet of Things (IoT) on a large scale to automate a range of functions thanks to technology group simPRO.

simPRO, one of the world’s leading software as a service businesses for the trade services industry, unveiled its new IoT solution in London this week. The technology will be rolled out to the company’s 100,000 users in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the UK over coming months.

simPRO IoT takes hardware, software and data from businesses in the trade and field service industries and integrates them into one platform, allowing previously separate programs and machines to talk to each other and provide automated solutions ordinarily requiring extensive manual effort.

simPRO Director Curtis Thomson said IoT would revolutionise the trade services and maintenance industries.

“The ability to connect anything and everything and manage and monitor remotely is extremely exciting for businesses looking to maximise efficiency,” he said. “There is serious demand for a range of integrated hardware and software that achieves a complete working solution, and that’s what we’ve built.”

He said simPRO’s IoT solution would save significant time and costs in the management of routine site inspections for equipment maintenance.

“By introducing an IoT real-time feed it could be possible to almost eliminate the need for someone to visit a site unless an issue is detected,” he said.

“By integrating operations with simPRO a business can also increase its own crisis reaction times. When issues are automatically identified early, business interruptions and resolution times are reduced and servicing and maintenance costs are brought down.”

One of the major benefits of simPRO IoT is that it is handled through one vendor and can be retrofitted at minimal cost to any existing equipment and be up and running in minutes. The simPRO platform is also open to allow for integration with any other IoT devices or protocols from third parties or existing installations.

CASE STUDY 1 – SMASHING FATBERGS, SAVING MILLIONS

simPRO is providing its leading-edge IoT solution to help tackle one of the UK’s most disgusting problems; the buildup of Fat, Oil and Grease (FOG) in sewer pipes that leads to the formation of ‘fatbergs’ that block drains and sewers and cause tens of millions of pounds of damage every year.

simPRO has teamed with hospitality facilities management specialists Three Nations to develop the technology to help eradicate the scourge of fatbergs with a fully integrated and automated solution called FOGCheck.

FOGCheck utilises a new biological treatment for the removal and prevention of build-up and blockages caused by fat, oil and grease in commercial kitchens, drains and sewers called Stopblox. This bio-treatment is combined with hardware that remotely monitors automated dosing to prevent blockages.

simPRO IoT is used for monitoring the dosage system and is dynamically linked to automated waste water sampling and the management of the equipment that dispenses the agent.

CASE STUDY 2 – KEEPING LUTON AIRPORT LOUNGE RUNNING

Using low-cost plug and play sensors integrated with simPRO’s job management platform, facilities (building plant and equipment) management group Thermacell is able to monitor the performance of air conditioners at lounges in Luton airport remotely in near real time and automatically receive alerts in response to anomalies.

This allows Thermacell to identify and diagnose many issues prior to complete failure and without the need for time consuming and expensive site visits, often constrained by airport security measures.

Thermacell Service Manager Alan Chandler said the company shared simPRO’s view that IoT would have a significant impact on the facilities management and maintenance services Thermacell provided.

“simPRO’s IoT solution allows us to get closer to the Swissport Lounge and provide a more responsive, customer-focused offering based on the accurate live data we receive on both asset and facility performance,” he said.

Paris | February 27, 2018– Australia occupies a unique global position in the air traffic management (ATM) domain. The country’s Air Navigation Service Provider, Airservices Australia, manages the largest airspace in the world, totaling over 11% of the globe. Their ambition is to ensure the seamless integration of all civil and military air traffic over an area totaling 53 million square kilometers, approximately equal to the combined surface of North America, Central America, South America and China.

Airservices Australia and the Australian Defence Force have chosen to rely on Thales to achieve this ambition by signing an AUS $1.2bn (€777m) contract for the delivery and deployment of the OneSKY programme. OneSKY is the world’s most advanced civil military airspace integration project and calls for the modernization of the Australian and associated oceanic airspace.

OneSKY’s objective is to bring benefits for passengers, airlines and the economy whilst maintaining Australian air sovereignty and safety to citizens, and is a critical part of the national infrastructure necessary to underpin the future economic prosperity of Australia.

The ambition of this programme is to enable Australia to safely manage and benefit from the rapid increase in air travel over the next 20 years at a time when airspace management is becoming significantly more complex. OneSKY will leverage Thales’s proven track record in Air Traffic Management systems, dual civil/military interoperability and use the latest digital technologies in the fields of connectivity, big data and AI to improve flight co-ordination, safely increase the use of airspace, optimise air traffic flow and improve the way planes approach the runway. Drawing on its cybersecurity expertise, Thales will ensure the integrity of the connectivity that will drive this interoperability.

For passengers the programme will reduce travel times and delays. For airlines, OneSKY seeks to maintain safety levels at increased volumes to enable them to increase their routes, whilst reducing fuel burn and CO2 emissions. The Australian Air Force will benefit from safer co-ordination with civilian air movements, thus helping them accomplish their mission of protecting Australia and its citizens more efficiently.

The development and delivery of OneSKY will support over 500 highly skilled, high-tech jobs, of which 450 are in Melbourne as well as a further 50 jobs in similar disciplines in France. To this approximately 200 more jobs will be supported across the entire supply chain in Australia It builds on the long term investment by Thales and comprehensive technology transfer that has brought world-leading R&D in ATM systems to Melbourne.

• Automatic advance security checks now being run on all passengers exiting Australia

Sydney, Australia | April 7, 2016– Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection (the Department) is now running automated checks on all passengers departing the country. The Outward Advance Passenger Processing (APP) program uses iBorders® from SITA, the global provider of border security and IT solutions to governments, airlines and airports. SITA’s iBorders system provides real-time, integration between the airlines’ systems and the Department’s border management systems.

Outward APP, which provides interactive advanced passenger information (i-API), was put in place following legislation enacted by the Australian Government to help improve Australia’s border integrity and national security. As part of these measures, airlines are required to provide data for all travellers departing Australia in advance of their flight. The airline transmits each passenger’s data to the Department during check-in, receiving in response a ‘board’/’no board’ message in real-time. Passengers who are pre-cleared for departure through this process are allowed to quickly self-process through passport control by using the SmartGate in Australia’s international airports.

In addition to providing a more streamlined departure process using automated e-gates, the process also facilitates the identification of passengers who may be a security concern ahead of departure. SITA’s iBorders enables the Department to receive passenger data from the airlines with enough time to pre-process travellers before they arrive at the border.

John Gibbon, Assistant Secretary Traveller Branch at the Department, said: “Outward APP delivers a faster and more seamless experience for travellers, while meeting our business needs to manage threats and ensure the integrity of Australia’s border.”

SITA’s work with the Department started as a trial with a limited number of airlines. Full implementation coincided with the commencement of the Foreign Fighters legislation amendments and today the Outward APP program includes all airlines and all flights out of Australia. In total, 47 airlines are now fully certified and running around two million transactions a month through the Australian Outward APP program powered by iBorders.

Ilya Gutlin, SITA President, Asia Pacific, said: “Australia has long been recognized as a leader and innovator in the area of border management. This sophisticated Outward APP program builds on the existing solutions that SITA has been providing to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection since 2000, when the country geared up for the influx of arrivals for the Olympic Games. Working in sync with the airlines, Australia now runs advance, automatic checks on every passenger arriving or departing the country, making the journey smoother for authorized travellers while addressing issues with persons of interest.”

Around 30 governments globally use SITA’s iBorders® systems and capabilities to keep their borders secure and transform their border security operations.

Hobart, Australia | October 13, 2015– A new survey that examines the emotions and types of airline travelers reveals that Australian passengers are an interesting mix of ‘careful planners’ and ‘open-minded adventurers’ who all look to technology to provide the best travel experience.

This year for the first time, the annual global survey, conducted by air transport IT provider SITA, took a look at air travelers in Australia to identify a number of common profiles, as well as to capture their emotions and the impact of technology at different stages of their journey. Passengers traveling through seven major international airports across Australia, representing 80% of the country’s passenger traffic, were surveyed and four different personas were identified:

• Independent and hyper-connected

• Pampered

• Careful Planner

• Open-minded adventurer

Though all four personas were visible among the Australian respondents two in particular stood out – 60% identified themselves as ‘Careful Planners’ and 20% as ‘Open-minded Adventurers’.

The ‘Careful Planner’ appreciates the control and convenience provided by self-service technologies. They are happy to use technology for the planning stage and throughout the journey. However, they like to arrive early at the airport carrying printed documents and welcome interaction with airline agents to confirm everything is on track and going to plan. The ‘Open-minded Adventurers’ are excited by the prospect of their journey. They tend to be tech-savvy people, keen to use technology for travel-related tasks and early adopters of new mobile services, but frustrated by a lack of integration which required using multiple apps to manage different parts of their trip.

Speaking at the Australian Airports Association National Conference in Hobart, Ilya Gutlin, SITA President, Asia Pacific, said: “Our survey shows that 80% of Australians had a positive experience throughout their last trip and technology is helping. Airlines and airports can be assured that passengers are happy to use self-service. Mobile check-in is an outstanding example, 100% of passengers who used their mobile for check-in had a positive experience in contrast to 82% who checked in at a counter.

“At SITA we are working with the industry in Australia and encouraging airlines and airports to implement strategies that accelerate adoption of technology in travel. Our survey shows that passengers are happy to use these services. Offering Australian passengers efficient self-service is an essential element of overall efforts to improve customer satisfaction and the end-to-end passenger experience.”

Though the survey results indicate that Australians are happy to use technology during their journey overall they are behind the curve in adoption. One area however, where Australia is out in front is in the adoption of self-service bag drop with 26% of domestic passengers processing their bag themselves rather than going to an airport counter – well ahead of the 20% global average.

Looking to the future, it is clear that Australians want to use more self-service and adoption of mobile services in particular is expected to increase dramatically. When asked about their next flight, more Australians expect to use their mobile devices for travel-related services, in fact, 11% intend to use mobile check-in for their next flight, nearly three times the current usage rate of 4%.

*Further details on SITA’s research into the Australian air passenger can be found here: https://www.sita.aero/resources/type/surveys-reports/passenger-it-trends-survey-2015/passenger-it-trends-survey-2015-australia