Shannon International Leasing Conference To Be Held Next Week

Ahead of next month’s highly anticipated Shannon International Leasing Conference (SILC 2017), organizers have confirmed that digitalization in aircraft transitions will be one of the leading panel discussions. The annual conference will be hosted by the University of Limerick for the second year on Friday 10th November 2017.

Digitalization has been a highly debated topic for years, with some believing that it could lead to incomplete back-to-birth records while others argue they are easier to archive. On average commercial airliners usually pass through five or six owner/operators between delivery and retirement, making physical copies of paperwork easily lost or misplaced. During the debate, the panel will be covering key areas such as ‘will digital documentation and authorised signatures really create an error free hand back process, or will there always be a place for detailed review by technical personnel?’
 
Sponsors at this year’s conference, CloudCARDS are certainly knowledgeable in the world of digitalization and Sales Director, Peter Collins tells us what to expect from the digitalization panel discussion, “We will discuss how the industry is moving towards the digitalization of records. How the lack of standardisation is hampering the transition. Old habits need to be broken to drive change. We’ll look at the future where the constant improvement in technology, and the industry coming together to standardise formats, indicates that a full digital process is on the near term horizon.”
 
Although we incorporate digital technology as often as we can into our day to day lives, one could argue that the aviation industry is somewhat dated in terms of digital accounts. Around 90% of all currently flying commercial airliners have paper maintenance records. To put this in perspective, the paperwork would circle the earth 25 times if laid end to end. So it’s not surprising that digitalization is becoming an increasingly popular choice for lessors as digital records are far more portable and easier to back up. However, some believe that there are still concerns with the updated records, for instance, security of online programs like the Cloud. Over the years we have seen the risks of software being hacked increase significantly and with no real solution yet, it’s clear to see why some lessors prefer to keep to paper.
 
The risk of loss is also one of the reasons why companies are still using hard copy records. During the process of converting from paper to digital it can be easy to lose some records as sifting through all of the existing paperwork and entering it into a digital system often increases the chances of information being misplaced. But one big advantage is that digital records are visibly clear. There are often debates surrounding lack of standardisation and legibility on paper records, whereas this problem is negated when transferred to digital. The other benefit of digitalization is that it can be seen as more reliable. Digital records are easier to search and locate ‘missing’ data so Lessors and their advisers can accomplish transitions faster and more effectively.
 
Alongside digitalization, a number of key topics will be debated in front of a knowledgeable audience of technical strategists and engineers from within the aviation leasing and airline sector. The first discussion will deliberate the commercial imperatives driving the aviation sector in Ireland, this will followed by a panellist review regarding consolidation and mergers within aviation leasing. A presentation on the current status of a digitalization project within the Irish Aviation Authority and aircraft transitions will address global concerns.
 
“It is clear to see that Shannon is the perfect location to host SILC 2017 as it is viewed as the hub of technical innovation” John Barry says, Senior Vice President at Seabury Solutions. “The new Shannon based propeller programme is designed to ensure that new technology programmes will be incubated and supported to lead transformational technology change. There is a bright future ahead and SILC 2017 is the best place to be if you want to understand your place in that future.”

(Source: SILC news release)

FMI: silc.ie/w