International experts representing a wide range of disciplines have converged at the UN aviation agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montréal  for the  ten-day long 13th Air Navigation Conference which runs from 9-19 October 2018.

The landmark global event is seen as pivotal to how governments and industry will collaborate internationally to adjust to emerging aviation challenges and technologies, a point which was clearly underscored by ICAO Council President Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu in his keynote conference remarks.

“Aviation today is on the brink of some major transformations,” the President declared. “This is reflected in the fantastic growth in aircraft passenger and cargo traffic volumes that are poised to more than double by 2035, the increasing deployment of drone technology, the launch of autonomous, suborbital, and supersonic activities, as well as other innovations such as artificial intelligence and block chain technologies.”

“Accordingly,” he commented, “our goal for the next two weeks is to define our collective vision of a safe, interoperable, seamless and global civil air traffic management system for the 21st century.”

The 13th Air Navigation Conference also heard from ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu during the Plenary session, where she drew its attention to the fact that the immensity of the event’s technical challenges can often obscure how its participants’ decisions can truly transform people’s lives and the prosperity of nations.

The participants to ICAO’s 13th Air Navigation Conference will be reviewing a wide range of items including revised policies and targets for the ICAO Global Aviation Safety Plan, new business case tools relating to infrastructure modernization projects and other revisions to the ICAO Global Air Navigation Plan, State endorsement of an International Trust Framework to bolster the security of future digital air transport requirements, and a new global approach to cost-effective safety collaboration.

Source: ICAO