The Digital Sky Challenge?

For the first time, an unprecedented number of aviation partners joined forces from December 2-4 at Athens international airport to bring you the Digital Sky Challenge: a 48-hour innovation sprint aiming to create new digital technologies that will help meet the future needs of the European aviation system in terms of capacity, safety, efficiency, and environmental impact.

New digital solutions were developed in 3 key areas:

PASSENGER EXPERIENCE (Challenge 1)

ENVIRONMENT (Challenge 2)

SAFETY (Challenge 3)

Download a description of the three challenges

Digital sky challenge - WINNERS 2019

Congratulations to our 2019 winners! These were the awesome projects that were awarded prizes during the SESAR Innovation Days Networking Dinner ceremony in Athens on December 4th.

Challenge 1 - Passenger experience: INNOV'ATM Creating an API to provide: zen indicator, information about position of passengers, itinerary to the gate and estimates of bottlenecks; List of passenger at risk for boarding per flight; Post ops data to help airports optimise operational bottleneck
Link to project page
Challenge 2 - Environment: Ecotravelers Supporting eco-friendly travelers by providing awareness and opportunities to choose easily the greenest realistic option based on CO2 emissions computed on real data.
Link to project page
Challenge 3 - Safety: JBM Using algorithms on data from ADS-B radars and historical data of incidents, detect safety incidents and through our methods, predict similar incidents and try to avoid them
Link to project page

Challenge 1
Passenger experience

 Challenge 2
Environment		 Challenge 3
Safety

2000€ in Cash (Athens International Airport)

Flight Tickets worth 2500€ (Air France)

1 Day Flight Simulator in Frankfurt (IATA)

5 Google Mini Homes (MetSafeATM)

Tickets to the OpenSky Workshop (OpenSky)

2000€ in Cash (Athens International Airport)

2000€ in Cash (ACI EUROPE)

2500€ Miles & More related promotion codes, worldshop vouchers (Lufthansa)

Invitation to the 2020 High-Level Conference on Environment, 28 April, Brussels (expenses covered) (EUROCONTROL)

2000€ in Cash (Athens International Airport)

Amazon Vouchers worth 2500€ (SITA)

Dinner in Vienna to present to Frequentis Management Team (all expenses covered) (Frequentis)

Tickets to SAFE 360° Conference (EASA)
     

For all winning teams

From Found'ation:
1-month hosting at Found.ation’s headquarters in Athens, as well as mentorship (on-site and/or mobile) tailor-made on the specific needs of each team (e.g. business development, funding, communications strategy, pitching techniques). From Found.ation

From CANSO:
Invitation of one person of each winning team to the CANSO ATM Gala dinner on 11th of March 2020, and all members of the winning teams to present the winning solutions at the CANSO booth during the WATMC. 

Additional Prizes

From Innaxis: Presentation slot in the Innaxis Data science workshop for the winning team with the best AI-based solution. Winner is AERLABS

From Airbus: 6-month (Q1/Q2 2020) full-time internship in the “Airline Science - ATM” team in Airbus’ Digital Transformation Office in Toulouse. Winner is JBM

From Honeywell: 3-month remunerated internship for one selected team. Winner is JBM

 

Marouan Chida, Head of Digital Transformation & Innovation, SESAR JU

Maria Mavrogeni, Digital Marketing, Specialist, Athens International Airport

Stylianos Sochoritis, Business and Passengers Marketing Coordinator, Athens International Airport

Nektarios Psycharis (PhD), Team Leader Business Analysis and Project Management - IT&T Business Unit, Athens International Airport

Benjamin Cramet, Network Manager Lab Manager, EUROCONTROL

Dr Stavros STROMATAS, Environmental Scientist, EUROCONTROL

Robin Deransy, Line Manager of the Environment Assessment and Modelling Team, EUROCONTROL

Matthias Beckmann, Senior Manager Performance & Quality Management, Frankfurt Airport

Daphne Goldmann, Senior Manager Measurement and Assessment of Aircraft Sound, Frankfurt Airport

Giuseppe Pillirone, ATM Project Manager, Air France

Maxime Warnier, Chief Technical Officer, MetSafe

Karl-Heinz Keller, Business Development Senior Manager - Airport Operations, SITA

Mary Rose Everan, Lead Platform Solution Developer, SITA

Jarosław Niewiński, Head of Innovations at PANSA, CANSO

Darío Martínez, Data Scientist, Innaxis Research Institute

Antonio Fernández, Data Scientist, Innaxis Research Institute

Samuel Cristobal, Science & Technology Director, Innaxis Research Institute

Adam Taha, Project Manager Group ATM Development SESAR, Lufthansa Group

Agenda

What is a coding challenge?

A coding challenge is an intense and fun collaborative marathon. That means to create something entirely new from things that already exist – think “MacGyver.” Developers, designers, data scientists, startups, joined by tech partners, have 48 hours to develop new products or services in response to a challenge posed by the coding challenge sponsor.

 

Do I have to know how to code to join?

Not all participants need to be developers. You will need to demo a prototype, so forming a team that accounts for design, UX and code is a great way to go. You will have an opportunity to do this in the morning of the coding challenge. You may also want to recruit colleagues with a broad range of skills to register before the event.

 

How can I participate in the Digital Sky Challenge?

To participate in the event, you will have to apply via Typeform. Registrations open in July on www.digitalskychallenge.eu; you can access the registration form by clicking on the "Get on board" button. They will remain open until 1st of November 2019. We will select, in total, up to 60 participants in 12 teams with 4-5 members each. 

 

Is there a selection process for participants?

Yes, there is! Please provide all the required information by registering through the Typeform. The project consortium will review your application and get back to you as soon as possible. The selection criteria are comprised of the participant’s background (such as technical work experience), whether you already have a team or not (teams will be preferred) and depending on the number of applications we get, what challenge you choose (we will contact you asking whether you would like to switch, if we still have spots open in another challenge) and lastly, we want to make sure that as many European countries as possible are represented. For more details, please refer to the Terms & Conditions section on www.digitalskychallenge.eu.

 

Why should I join the Digital Sky Challenge?

Here are some benefits described by people who have participated in other coding challenges:

‘It’s a new way of working, in a more agile, interdisciplinary and collaborative form.’

‘Challenge yourself, learn by doing and improve your skills.’

‘Have fun and life-changing experience.’

‘Turn your knowledge into a concrete and innovative product/ service.’

‘Collaborate on a project that might be implemented in real life.’

'Meet the industry’s key players.'

 

How are teams formed?

Teams can be formed either:

ahead of time if you are coming to the event with people you know

or virtually by posting on the platform and on the dedicated Slack channel (access will be provided to all registered participants)

There will also be an opportunity to pitch your idea, your team or yourself onsite to recruit more team members or to get recruited onto a team in the morning of day 1 before coding begins for those who do not yet have a team.

 

What is the allowable team size?

Teams should have 4-5 members. No matter the number of teammates, make sure to cover all hats: development, design (UI/UX), data science, software architecture and pitch. One person can absolutely wear several hats!

 

What is the challenge?

For the first time, the unprecedented names in the aviation industry are joining forces to bring you the Digital Sky Challenge: a 48-hour innovation sprint aiming to create new digital technologies that will help meet the future needs of the European aviation system in terms of capacity, safety, efficiency, and environmental impact.

Three challenges will be there for you to work on:

Challenge 1: Passenger Experience

Challenge 2: Environment

Challenge 3: Safety

 

How does judging work?

There will be a panel of experts to judge you on the technical level of your solution as well as your overall approach.

Here are the judging criteria:

Criterion 1: Innovation - Innovativeness of the Solution Approach

Criterion 2: UI/UX - Quality and Design, Usability

Criterion 3: Technical Feasibility - Practicality of the Idea

Criterion 4: Business Impact - Usefulness and Competitiveness of the Solution

 

Who is on the judging panel?

The judging panel will be comprised of ACI EUROPE and the event’s partners’ top management. Details on the jury members will be published on the website ahead of the event.

 

What is the Digital Sky Challenge platform?

(Platform URL will be communicated in advance to all registered participants)

It is a virtual platform for attendees to watch webinars, engage with ACI EUROPE’S and the event partners and mentors, form your team and access resources. You will also create and submit your projects through the platform.

 

What equipment will I need for the event?

Bring your laptop, cell phone, and any other hardware you wish to use along with their chargers. We will provide power, internet, refreshments/meals, coaching, and support!

 

Is this an overnight event?

Yes! You will be able to stay in the venue overnight, some sleeping facilities will be provided. Details will be added shortly!

 

Can I use third party APIs?

Yes. In addition to the available technologies provided by our partners, you are free to use any publicly available software and third party APIs.