The Digital Transformation of Airport Mobility
Guillaume Raffier from Sopra Steria discusses the development of the Mobility Databox and Journey Planner in an interview.
Guillaume is a Project Manager and Innovation Consultant with expertise in sustainable program engineering. His business vision focuses on multimodality, air traffic management and environmental issues.
He brings a multidisciplinary perspective to the table, emphasizing collaborative governance, agility, and data enhancement. For over five years, Guillaume has been involved in large-scale demonstrator innovation programs like COMMUTE* and ECOMODE* at Sopra Steria. Currently, he’s leading the development of the STARGATE Mobility Work package , which focuses on creating digital mobility solutions for green airports across various European airport territories. Guillaume works in a team with Sohun SHIN,Technical Leader of Mobility Databox and Sarah ABDUL AZIZ,Functional Leader of Mobility Databox and Journey Planner.
Now, let’s talk about the data. What types of data does the Mobility Databox use to collect information?
That’s a great question! The Mobility Databox is a valuable tool because it can cross-reference various data sets and use customized algorithms to meet specific business requirements. Rather than incorporating all available data, we work with our partners to determine which data is relevant and valuable for specific business needs.
For the different territories, including the lighthouse Brussels Airport and fellow airport territories, we use four families of data:
- Data on Infrastructure Mobility, including information on bicycle roads, public transport networks, congestion segments, and other infrastructure-related details.
- We use company Data such as anonymized employee locations, modal splits, and company mobility equipment to understand how employees move within the airport vicinity.
- To create a comprehensive picture, we collect Airport Data on both departing and arriving passengers, airport parking patterns, and other relevant data.
- To enhance our understanding of mobility dynamics, we collect Contextual Data, which considers factors such as air quality, weather conditions, and specific CO2 emissions associated with different modes of transportation and different territories.
What advantages does the Journey Planner offer to both employees and passengers?
The Stargate Mobility Databox provides a comprehensive diagnosis that can help identify issues in mobility policies. This, in turn, can lead to the development of better mobility solutions for employees, who will be the primary beneficiaries. Employees will have access to a Journey Planner that will provide them with the necessary information to choose the right mode of transport for their commute, thus saving them time and making their travel easier. The goal is to increase awareness of the range of travel options available to the airport and encourage the development of multimodal air-rail solutions through knowledge and need, as also recently demonstrated at Charles de Gaulle Airport.”
“Passengers receive real-time information on the environmental impact of their chosen transportation mode. This encourages eco-friendly choices and contributes to overall sustainability”.
How can airports leverage this tool to their advantage?
We believe that the Passenger Journey Planner is an indispensable tool for improving the overall travel experience at airports. Our tools have been designed as communication and decision-making solutions to support mobility policies and reduce CO2 emissions, with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality.
In practical terms, this means that we can modify airport operations by tracking passenger arrivals and mobility patterns. By increasing predictability, we can adjust infrastructures, such as gates and check-in areas, to better and more efficiently meet passengers’ needs.
What challenges do you encounter during the tool’s development?
We encounter several challenges. We need to improve the standardization requirements to ensure that our tools can be used in different contexts. Although each airport has its own specificities, we aim to achieve the right level of standardization, especially when it comes to mobility issues. Our goal is to increase the number of users by making sure that the tool brings value to everyone.
Our final challenge begins with an important question: Is the digital solution we are implementing better for the environment than the initial situation? We must ensure that any gains in using a digital solution outweigh any negative impact on emissions or emissions equivalents. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor the actions we take in terms of mobility and IT practices, particularly tool development. As a result, we are committed to following the principles of green IT developed at Sopra Steria.
How far are you in using the tool in practice?
We have made significant progress with the agreements and formulation of data requirements for all partners involved. We have already given initial access to various partners and will continue to do so. By the end of 2024, all stakeholders will have access to the tool and will be able to share information. Regarding the journey planner, we are actively collaborating with the Brussels Airports team after the first Proof of Concept. Our goal is to integrate it by the end of this year. The next step is to incorporate the cargo mobility data section into the Mobility Databox. This is crucial to obtain a complete view of an airport’s mobility activities. To achieve this, we are working with our partners, including Air Cargo Belgium and Brussels Airport Company, to specify usable data.
Impressive work! Thank you for your insights, Guillaume. We look forward to seeing the positive impact of the Journey Planner at Brussels Airport and beyond.
*COMMUTE: Launched in 2018, it is a collective initiative with European funding that brings together public and private players around a common goal: developing a new collaborative management model for sustainable urban mobility. *ECOMODE: The app supports and rewards low-carbon travel in the Toulouse area.