TECH TALK
many vendors that provide services to convert paper to PDF, and the reason that none of these seems to have a fully digital solution (using XML as a means to easily exchange data) is the lack of industry standards for electronic forms and data. The follow-on to this is how
aircraft transition from one owner to another (or on lease returns) since the amount of paperwork required is overwhelming. Blockchain can certainly help this, but since the data contained within a blockchain transaction needs to be standardized in order to be useful, the industry needs to standardize the data and its structures to avoid having a Wild West of non-standardized data.
NEW DATA STANDARDS ARE NEEDED IN ORDER FOR BLOCK- CHAIN TO SUCCEED IN AVIA-
TION IATA has begun looking into this issue in the past few years as part of its ‘Paperless Operations’ project. The ATA/A4A Spec 2000 e-Business Program has gone one step further, and has formed a task force named the Electronic Aircraft Transfer Records (EATR) initiative. The aim of this group is to produce a set of electronic aircraft records documents/ data sets for the transfer of aircraft from one trading partner to another. There are six initial sets of data they will defi ne XML data records for: 1. Airworthiness directives status 2. Service bulletin/modifi cation status
3. Repair/damage status 4. Installed parts status (tracked components HT, LLP, etc.)
5. Maintenance implementation procedure, last done, next due
6. Aircraft status The aim of the EATR eff ort is
to enable the smooth and simple transfer of data, to do it with minimal cost and virtually no manpower, to
26
DOMmagazine.com | dec 2016 jan 2017
reduce costs related to handling hard copy documents, to enable the secure automated transfer of data via XML, and to essentially simplify the entire process by which aircraft records are created, managed and transmitted. While there are many other factors,
forms and sets of data needed to manage aircraft, engines and parts, the ATA EATR is an excellent start. They expect to have their initial release of the XML forms and the associated procedures in the near future. Once this EATR is released, many of the current software vendors that support electronic records will begin updating their products and a transitionary phase for the industry will begin. This is transitionary since merely updating existing industry processes is not the end goal that anyone wants. This is where a blockchain-based solution will solve the dilemma of how to truly automate and secure a complete set of aircraft records (or to a lesser degree, to facilitate transactions of individual aircraft spares with the proper birth-to-death lifecycle documented properly). Stefan Folser, CEO, BA&C Business Aircraft & Aviation Consulting in Vienna, Austria, stated that, “One of the greatest challenges I face when handling aircraft transactions on behalf of my customers is handling the associated documents. These are often incomplete, or missing, and this not only brings confusion, but slows down the entire process. A blockchain-based mechanism which would capture the complete set of data associated with an asset would serve the industry well.” Folser and a team are working on eWINGZ, a Vienna-based startup company focused on the collaborative aspect of the industry by using blockchain technology and PKI to provide a solution to the industry to resolve this issue.
In order for a blockchain solution to be eff ective, the OEMs will need to be supportive by properly generating the initial record for a part or an aircraft. Next, the OEM parts manufacturers will need to do the same for aircraft spares. The airlines/ operators, MROs and other industry participants will need to have the capability to add updated blocks onto blockchain records as parts are removed for inspection, repair and so on.
In other words, we will need the
entire industry to upgrade its IT capabilities. Is this possible? Feasible? Expensive? Yes, yes and yes. The better question is with all of
the evolutionary changes we have with e-Enabled aircraft, increased use of software in parts and systems, and the need to better track and secure all of this, how can aviation not move to better manage itself? Blockchain is not a silver bullet,
but it certainly provides one heck of a weapon to address the industry problem of reducing costs while not impacting safety.
John Pawlicki is CEO and principal of OPM Research. He also works with Information Tool Designers (ITD),
where he consults to the DOT’s Volpe Center, handling various technology and cyber security projects for the FAA and DHS. He managed and deployed various products over the years, including the launch of CertiPath (with world’s fi rst commercial PKI bridge). John has also been onic FAA 8130-3 forms, as well as in defi ning digital identities with PKI. His recent publication, ‘Aerospace Marketplaces Report,’ which analyzed third-party sites that support the trading of aircraft parts, is available on
OPMResearch.com as a PDF download, or a printed book version is available on
Amazon.com.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
