Thales has launched the TopSky – ATC upgrade for air traffic management (ATM) and launched Alliance One to bring together its users and help guide the future development of the software.
The development of the TopSky – ATC upgrade release lies in a different governance structure that fosters collaboration, shared decision-making, and ownership among all parties involved.
Thales said that by aligning the priorities and needs of its customer air navigation service providers (ANSPs) and their own customers, the development of TopSky – ATC will better meet the ever-changing demands of the industry.
TopSky - ATC is a flexible subscription service, so customers can shape updates according to their specific needs and financial constraints, while enabling ANSPs to collaborate with Thales for both initial development and ongoing technological advancements, ensuring financial efficiency.
By collectively defining critical needs, the new release lets ANSPs focus on enhancing interoperability and efficiency, thereby accommodating higher air traffic levels and subsequently increasing revenue.
The system's common foundation facilitates efficient adaptation to emerging regulations, bolstering cyber security measures and streamlining individual system updates to ensure regulatory compliance and safety.
At the decision-making level, the roadmap for TopSky - ATC's development, along with future evolutions, is shaped facilitating open, transparent, unrestricted, and complimentary knowledge exchange. with stakeholders through Alliance One, a user alliance. Within Alliance One, ANSPs and Thales jointly discuss industry CONOPS and critical needs,. Technological innovations are then driven by Thales' Skylab Network, implemented globally to pool resources and foster collaboration between ANSPs and Thales.
Several clients have already expressed intention in joining this new governance model in 2024, the very first one is skeyes, Belgium’ ANSP.
Johan Decuyper, CEO of skeyes said, “In an ongoing evolution of our system, we have strategically chosen to embark on an upgrade of our TopSky – ATC system to adopt the next-generation ATM standard.”
“skeyes also welcomes the implementation of Alliance One, which unites the essential requirements and provides shared solutions to all involved ANSPs, transforming TopSky into a more evolutionary and standardised system. This will improve cost efficiency and will facilitate the alignment with EU standards and civilian-military integration. By becoming a part of it, skeyes secures access to a consistently high-performing system for the foreseeable future.”
Christian Rivierre, VP Airspace Mobility Solutions, Thales said, "Thales is committed to supporting ANSPs in designing an open, safe and secure solution that will enable them to cope more flexibly with predictable and unpredictable fluctuations in traffic flows.
“This enables all stakeholders to work together more proactively to build better skies together. And we're very proud to have already brought major ANSPs on board with us on this journey. So stay tuned to learn more.”