Aircraft Cabin Management Systems Integration Technology Roadmap: Highlights

The Context

The Canadian aerospace industry is globally recognized as the preferred source of integrated Aircraft Cabin Management Systems.

The Challenge

• To develop a clear, concise Technology Insight Document (TID) that contains an overview of Aircraft Cabin Management Systems' technologies and market environments with specific assessment of Canadian strengths and weaknesses, as well as insight into international market trends and opportunities.
• To assist government and industry to jointly define strategies in relevant niche areas which can then be implemented through collaborative technology insertion projects comprising the Technology Implementation Program (TIP) portion of the TID.

The Objective

The primary goal of this roadmap is the development of a methodology to bring together various firms and industry segments to develop a target capability, technology system, or system of systems to the benefit of all involved stakeholders both in the near and longer term. In this Technology Roadmap, the focus is on Tier 2 systems integration capability for Aircraft Cabin Management Systems and related technologies.

A secondary goal is to generate new mechanisms for effective government and industry collaboration related to, and supportive of, the Industry Canada Aerospace and Defence Technology Framework and jointly developed Aerospace Critical Technologies list.

Key Participants

• Industry: A total of 40 Canadian aerospace industry suppliers were given the opportunity to participate. The lead was Thales Avionics from Montreal, a world player in the Aircraft Cabin Management Systems market.
• Association: Aerospace Industries Association of Canada
• Government: Industry Canada

Benefits and Key Results

• A streamlined approach to technology roadmapping has been successfully developed and demonstrated. Four follow-on technology implementation projects have been proposed.
• Provided valuable insight into the related technology trends to all participants and facilitated SME access to a major Canadian supplier. This will enhance the potential for successful follow-on collaborative projects. The stakeholders, especially the smaller ones, strongly endorsed this strategic investment approach. The concept can be further developed and refined to form a key element of Industry Canada's supplier development activity.
• The issue of Intellectual Property (IP), which has been a barrier to collaborative projects within the aerospace sector, was addressed and a follow-on project has been identified to assist companies in dealing with their IP concerns. Based on the success of this initiative, and with the support and encouragement of our industry association, a second TRM focussing on Aircraft Prognostics, Diagnostics, and Health Monitoring is now underway.