Air Traffic Navigation Services to host innovation summit

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“The Aviation industry is largely enhanced and advanced through innovation. ATNS as an organisation strategically focuses on encouraging and supporting innovators in the industry, and actively seeks to provide a platform for such entrepreneurs, through this summit and its AVI Awards contest,” said ATNS CEO, Thabani Mthiyane.

With the theme of this year’s summit focused on “Breaking barriers in the aviation industry through innovation”, the summit seeks to explore how the industry deals with the emergence of incidental and real-life barriers that may lead to a need for realignment and restructuring – from an Air Navigation Services perspective.

It is no secret that like any industry, new challenges are constantly arising, due to unexpected developments. “Sudden changes in our industry can certainly be overwhelming and we need to always be a step ahead of the curve, developing, creating and innovating for the future of aviation,” noted Mthiyane.

In an IATA (International Air Transport Association) report titled – The Future of the Airline Industry 2035 – various drivers of change are detailed and include terrorism, urbanisation and growth of megacities, geopolitical instability, cybersecurity, water and food security – to name but a few. The report talks to the fact that the aviation industry seems to be reacting to new technologies rather than leading the charge. So, while great strides have been made by putting in place recommended standards and practices to encourage and promote innovation within the aviation fraternity, the industry needs to employ continuous innovative means to evolve with the changing times, while remaining inherently safety-conscious.

The two-day summit will see some of the industry’s best and brightest minds coming together. Confirmed guests and speakers already include social entrepreneur and qualified pilot Refilwe Ledwaba, Linden Birns, founder and MD of Plane Talking, George Simataa, Secretary to the Cabinet of the Prime Minister Windhoek, Gnassou Sandrine, Inspector ANS-CNS, as well as Thabani Mthiyane.

Taking place at the CSIR Conference Centre in Pretoria on 23 and 24 October 2018, the summit will also host the fourth annual AVI Awards. This year the awards have five different categories, including media, youth innovator, professional innovator, emerging innovator and organisations. The AVI Awards seek to recognise those individuals that contribute to innovation and elevate the aviation industry through the intelligent design of products and processes that enhance the capabilities of the aviation industry.

For more, go to www.aviafrique.co.za