International air transport industry company SITA has announced that it has entered a partnership with Singapore-based Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) technology company Envision Digital. The intent of this partnership is to help airports, worldwide, to both achieve their net-zero carbon emissions targets and reduce their operational costs. (SITA must not be confused with South Africa’s State Information Technology Agency.)

“Today, SITA works with nearly 1 000 airports globally to manage every aspect of their operations, from baggage and passenger processing to airside and aircraft operations,” highlighted SITA At Airports head Drew Griffiths. “Supporting airports to reduce costs and cut their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a natural extension of this offering and one our customers have asked for. We look forward to working with Envision in delivering this new capability as part of our wider airport offering.”

“Airports have been progressive in their ambition to reach net zero,” pointed out Envision Digital global executive director Michael Ding. “This partnership combines our AIoT leadership with SITA’s expertise in the air transport industry to create low-carbon aviation solutions that help the industry to reach its goal.”

The two companies have developed Internet of Things systems that allow data to flow in real time. These will allow airports to monitor and also report on the energy they use, on GHG emissions from both aircraft and ground vehicles, and their carbon footprints. These data feeds can then be used by airports to develop insights that will permit them to take the actions necessary to reduce their energy consumption, and so both their costs and their carbon emissions.

Further, these systems and the data flows they provide will, in the future, allow airports to integrate renewable energy sources into their energy mixes.

The partnership will see SITA set up a new Centre of Excellence (CoE). This will make use of Envision Digital’s energy management and smart building expertise as well as SITA’s own expertise in air transport technology and operations. This new CoE will accelerate the development of both products and the delivery of customer projects. It will help airports achieve greater operational efficiency and sustainability.