ITU, Malaysia to discuss real-time monitoring of flight data

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Malaysian government will organize an expert dialogue on real-time monitoring of flight data in a bid to improve the identification and tracking of commercial aircraft in flight. The dialogue, to be hosted on May 26-27 in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur, is scheduled to discuss the feasibility of streaming flight data from aircraft to the ground in real-time, according to a statement by ITU on Thursday. ITU said the difficulties surrounding the search for the Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370, which disappeared from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, has highlighted the need to improve the identification and tracking of commercial aircraft in flight. The UN agency noted information and communication technologies (ICT) are instrumental to the safe and efficient operation of tens of thousands of flights each day, which could aid in monitoring the location of aircraft and improving the efficiency for authorities to launch rescue efforts in emergency situations, for instance, by leveraging cloud computing and big data analytics. According to the statement, subjects debated within the dialogue will include the geographical coverage of proposed monitoring systems; the type of data to be transmitted to the ground and the required transmission rates; data security, storage and analytics; ownership of flight data; as well as the costs and changes to business models required to implement such systems on a global scale. "As the multi-nation search for the missing aircraft continues, we must undertake immediate steps at the international level to increase efficiency in the tracking of aircraft. This event will serve to accelerate on-going efforts to achieve consensus on real-time tracking solutions for the aviation industry," Hamadoun Toure, ITU Secretary-General said in the statement. Representatives from ICT solution providers, airlines, international organizations, satellite and avionics companies, terrestrial solution providers and governments will join in the event.