Innovation Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) activities at ANA run along various lines, with emphasis placed on the participation in collaborative, co-financed projects at national (QREN, COMPETE) and European level (7th FP) and under strategic initiatives led by industry relevant organisations (SESAR, ESA, EUROCONTROL). Accordingly, ANA is looking to find partners and new projects opportunities that search for solutions based on emergent technologies aimed at improving the efficiency and safety of airport operations. In order to secure national and European allocated funding for the RDI projects, ANA is required to: - Supply the human resources needed for the execution of the relevant tasks; - Disseminate at national and international level the solutions developed and the research carried out through scientific papers, presentations at congresses, workshops or in the media; - Buy the necessary components for the implementation of concepts and systems developed; - Maintaining those demonstrators suited and configured according to local requirements operative and running for several months. The success achieved by ANA alongside its recognition as a reliable and interesting partner has increased invitations to join RDI projects. Participation in these projects is also highly beneficial to the company itself, as it enables: - To make the most of, and expand the technical, technological, managerial and economic competencies of its staff; - To increase the company’s efficiency through new and significantly improved processes and practices; - To help defining and establishing the future of the industry; - Greater stakeholder's involvement due to the collaborative nature of the projects, thereby promoting the sustainability of the solutions developed; - To align R&D activities with the priorities of the various communities and their representatives on a European level. Innovation and Sustainability ANA is very interested in participating in these collaborative RDI projects because, in addition to enhancing the company’s managerial efficiency and effectiveness by significantly improving its processes and practices, it helps to develop the talent of its staff through the acquisition of new skills that keep up with, and help to advance the state of the art of the methods and techniques applicable to the company’s activities. By helping the extension and redefinition of the technical, operational and managerial frontiers, the company is also helping to build the future of the industry, one that congregates all other economic interests and activities that gravitate around the airports with impact at regional and national level. It does so by focusing and responding to the requirements of the various stakeholders in an integrated and collaborative way. The highly collaborative nature of the RDI projects implies that the building of the company’s future, its activity and that of the industry is done in a highly participated manner among the various stakeholders and hence in a more sustained and sustainable way. Additionally, the RDI goals pursued in the projects in accordance with the thematic priorities set by the RDI European macro funding programmes aligns the company’s innovation priorities with the strategic guidelines adopted by the various European communities, and their representatives in the EU institutions. Innovation and Special Technological Projects Unit (GIPTE) The GIPTE - Gabinete de Inovação e Projectos Tecnológicos Especiais was set up in 2007 for the purpose of structuring and systematically promoting RDI activities at ANA and encouraging the development of projects based on emerging technologies and was reorganised and in 2009, targeting among other objectives the implementation and certification of a new Research, Development and Innovation Management System in response to COTEC’s Structuring Initiative "DSIE" (Sustained Corporate Innovation Development) challenge. The company’s Innovation Policy was revised and approved and its goal is now to ”develop and implement innovative methods and products in the airport management field, exploring and exploiting knowledge gained through the efficient management of the company’s interface with its environment, and the creativity of its employees, aiming at boosting the company's competitiveness and sustainability". The new Research, Development and Innovation Management System complies with the Portuguese NP 4457 – RDI Management System Requirements - norms applicable to any innovation, whether it regards a product (goods or services), a process, organizational or marketing innovation, or a combination of any or several of them, as well as with the Quality, Environment, Health and Safety at Work and Social Responsibility standards already adopted by the company. Recently concluded RDI projects: -SAFEDRIVE: Eureka, ADI/DEMTEC project and PRIME programme, aimed at preparing an operational and industrial version of the so-called AIRNET solution incorporating the various improvements and new functionalities arising from recommendations and suggestions by the company’s operational and technical experts. The SAFEDRIVE Project, which relied on INOV - Inesc Inovação as its main technology supplier, produced a prototype implemented at OPorto Airport and demonstrated at that airport on January 31 at a final Public Presentation. The contractual acceptance of the project and of the final technical, financial and dissemination reports by the funding entities followed, and ANA received funding amounting to 80 percent of the total costs - the eligible maximum for that project and programme. -GAMMA: An European Space Agency (ESA) project the aim of which was to evaluate and demonstrate the suitability of the Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) developed by ESA the European Community and Eurocontrol for operational and safety management solutions at airport movement areas, and to study the possibility of extending satellite coverage to areas with no EGNOS signal (SISNET). The purpose of the EGNOS system is to act as a complement the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) GPS and, eventually, adopt the future GNSS GALILEO, providing constant and reliable precision levels on the ground (< 7.5m) and signal integrity (>99%) compatible with solutions employed in the aviation industry, applicable in particular to airport movement area. - E-CAB: “E-enabled Cabin and Associated Logistics for Improved Passenger Services and Operational Efficiency": along with 31 partners from 14 countries (industry, small & medium enterprises as well as research institutes and technology enterprises such as SITA, EADS, Siemens, Thales, Selex, Dassault, Jettainer, OnAir, IBERlog), ANA took part in the "E-CAB External Advisory Group" (EEAG) of this major IP (Integrated Project) included in the European Commission’s 6th FP – thematic area Aviation - headed by Airbus. The aim was to develop an information management architecture for managing integrated networks and data bases, in order to improve performance, passenger experience, and the satisfaction of customers, airlines, airport managers and other stakeholders in the air transport business. http://www.e-cab.eu Ongoing RDI Projects: - IRPS: “Intelligent Robotic Porter System”: R&D Project included in 6th FP last call "IST” launched on January 1, 2007 and due for completion in December 2009. Its goal is to equip a robot with advanced mapping and guidance capability, while ensuring its mobility in internal areas that house a great number of persons. The project earned the recognition of project partners for the quality of the efforts of ANA personnel. Headed by CS Systèmes d’Information (France), it includes 8 partner companies from 6 countries and 12 ANA staff (in total, 473 from all and for the duration of the project). ANA’s share in the total allocated budget of approximately €5 million amounts to some €119 thousand. http://www.irps-project.net - AAS: "Integrated Airport Apron Safety Fleet Management": Project included in the 7th FP initiated in May 2008 and due for completion in late 2011. Its purpose is to research, develop, and implement a low-cost solution for monitoring and controlling ground handling vehicles and equipment circulating on the apron, fleet management and to improve apron management from the point of view of its efficiency and safety of the various parties involved. The project, headed by TSB Technologiestiftung Innovationsagentur Berlin GmbH and Forschungs und Anwendungsverbund Verkehrssystemtechnik (FAV) Berlin (GE), includes 12 partner companies from 6 countries and 17 ANA staff (in total, 250 from all and for the duration of the project). ANA’s share in the total allocated budget of approximately €3.5 million amounts to some €201 thousand. http://www.aas-project.eu -­ Idetect4ALL: "Novel Intruder Detection & Authentication Optical Sensing Technology": 7th FP Project, beginning in July 2008 and due for completion in late 2010. Its goal is to develop an intruder sensing and authentication system based on photonic and optical technology, capable of considerably improving the cost/performance ratio of security systems, and spreading the technologies to the as many infrastructures as possible. The project, headed by the Instro Precision Limited (UK) includes 10 partner enterprises from 7 countries and 11 ANA staff (in total, 389 from all and for the duration of the project). ANA’s share in the total allocated budget of approximately €3.2 million amounts to some €103 thousand. http://www.idetect4all.eu - LOCON: "Platform for an Inter-Working of Embedded Localisation and Communication Systems": a 7th FP project initiated June 2008 and due for completion in 2010, LOCON aims at developing a platform and software capable of integrating, in an optimized and robust manner, data from different positioning systems and technologies intended for short range situations or regarding spatially concentrated locations (e.g. inside buildings). The project, headed by the Fraunhofer - Institut für Integrierte Schaltungen IIS (GE) includes 9 partner companies from 5 countries, and 32 ANA staff (in total, 409 from all and for the duration of the project). ANA’s share in the total allocated budget of approximately €3.7 million amounts to some €284 thousand.  http://www.locon.org - MALA SEGURA: A QREN_SI I&DT, COMPETE and EUREKA Project initiated in September 2009 and due for completion in March 2011, aimed at developing “intelligent” suitcases with integrated identification, sensing and communication technology (RFID, WSN) and a central management, control and monitoring system. http://mala-segura.com - TRAPLE: "Tracking People in Large Environments": A THALES/ISCTE collaborative project with the participation of ANA, aimed at developing an automated system for detecting and tracking people inside the Airport Terminal with the help of video sensors and computer-processed data. The ability to sophisticatedly process video information concerning pedestrian movements, including detecting spatio-temporal patterns and regularities, as well as changes to such patterns and regularities is the project’s most ambitious goal. - SMP: "Sistema de Monitorização de Pista": Included in the ANA/INOV partnership contract, the SMP Project goal is to develop a system for detecting bodies (people, vehicles, suitcases, animals, etc. in the airport’s manoeuvring area. The system will employ 4 strategically placed image detectors and 4 processing units. The application will use data gathered by the detectors by video, in order to identify foreign objects in the manoeuvring area and send alarms (remotely via TCP/IP) to the operators’ workstations. - DUMBO: "Demonstrador Universal de Monitorização de Bagagens e Operações": an ANA/Link demonstrator project carried out during 2009. Its purpose is to test by means of a demonstrator platform the use of a RFID technology supported solution for handling and tracking luggage using IATA-compliant RFID tags, and acquire relevant know-how in order to be able to make informed decisions regarding future applications and their benefits. - ANAWAY: The purpose of the ANA Way project is to develop a passenger-oriented product and service strategy and design process that should act as a foundation for the services developed and provided directly by ANA to the passengers. -­ INTERNET MÓVEL: The purpose of this project is to make available to the public through last-generation mobile phones (PDA’s, Smartphones, etc) small applications, which will provide fast and direct access to a series of airport management related contents. RDI projects starting: - CRISIS: "Critical Incident Management Training System Using an Interactive Simulation Environment": a 7th FP project starting in the beginning of 2010, the Project aim is to research and develop a broad scale, interactive, collaborative, and distributive simulation environment aimed at training emergency management and response personnel. The future platform shall be easily reconfigurable in order to accommodate different crisis and emergency situations with intentionally differentiated uncertainty levels, in terms of diagnosis, signal recognition and decision-making. The project led by Middlesex University (UK) includes 13 partner companies from 7 countries and 29 ANA staff (347 in total for the duration of the project). ANA’s share in the total allocated budget of approximately €3.5 million amounts to some €260 thousand. A_Guidance: As part of the implementation of the results of the RDI SAFEDRIVE Project (A_Guidance solution), other projects were initiated aimed at putting into operation the pilot versions of the A_Guidance at Lisbon Airport and OPorto Airport: - A_GuidanceLis: Project aimed at installing a fully operational pilot system based on the A_Guidance solution, in cooperation with Lisbon Airport, INOV, NAV and Portway, based on a WIMAX wireless infrastructure.

Find out more about our RDI activities. Click on the logos representing each project to read more about them.