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European Space Agency co-funded project will
support aircraft safety and future aircraft tracking and data
recovery
LONDON, June 15,
2023 /CNW/ - CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) has been
awarded a contract under the European Space Agency (ESA)'s Space
Systems for Safety and Security (4S) programme with the support
from the UK Space Agency. CGI will lead a consortium in the
development of a Service Demonstrator for a virtual flight data
recorder. Replicating the function of a traditional crash-protected
flight data recorder (Black Box) in a virtual, cloud-based
environment, the new system will allow the assured, authenticated
and provenance-controlled storage of data transmitted by an
aircraft while in flight. It will enable access to that data almost
immediately in case of an emergency, incident, or accident. The
Universal Virtual Flight Data Recorder (UVFDR) will be designed for
use on any aircraft equipped to send engineering telemetry and
operational data to the ground.
Neil Timms, Senior Vice President
Space, Defence and Intelligence for UK & Australia at CGI said: "Understanding the
cause of an air-related incident is vital to helping improve flight
safety, and indispensable for those impacted and their families.
CGI is proud to be working with ESA, whilst building on our
heritage in safe, secure cloud, to develop a virtual flight
recording service that allows any suitably equipped aircraft to
send flight data to a secure cloud storage facility."
Designed to meet Global Aeronautic Distress and Safety System
(GADSS) aircraft tracking and flight data recovery requirements, a
future UVFDR service can be used on its own on smaller aircraft, or
alongside traditional recorders on aircraft legally required to
carry them. The future UVFDR services could also reduce the time
and effort required to locate aircraft in distress, as well as
provide critical telemetry to ground-based engineers assisting
their crews.
Heather Britton, Head of Space
Applications at the UK Space Agency and UK Representative of the
ESA ARTES Programme, said: "The UK has always been a leading
innovator in aerospace and aviation. UVFDR is another great example
where space technology helps solve a real-world challenge, and it's
great to see the UVFDR team carry the torch forward by developing
cutting edge aviation technology to further improve safety and
operations in the UK and globally."
The European Space Agency actively supports innovative
solutions, highlighting the potential of space technologies for the
benefits of all aviation stakeholders (airlines, business and
general aviation, airport, civil aviation authorities). "We are
delighted to support CGI's industry-leading virtual flight data
recorder" said Arnaud Runge, Project
Manager at ESA. "I myself hold a commercial pilot license and
welcome an initiative which will make use of satellite-based
technologies to make aviation even safer than it is today."
The system is built using CGI's TrustedFabric, a proprietary
blockchain solution for the secure storage of highly sensitive data
and is hosted on the cloud. The system is scalable and a future
commercial service is planned to be made available globally. The
technology also offers the potential to support additional
services, such as improved technical support for aircraft in
flight, flight recording solutions for remotely piloted and
advanced air mobility (AAM) vehicles, and airspace data integration
services for air navigation service providers. CGI will work with
ESA, Code Magus Ltd, Cranfield University, Amazon Web Services
(AWS), and industry stakeholders SatAuth and others to define use
cases and system requirements for a global UVFDR service. The
concept being developed makes use of the increasing availability of
satellite data communications bandwidth, and the growing number of
aircraft equipment capable of transmitting flight data, such as
Quick Access Recorders (QAR) and similar systems.
Dr. Li Wen-Chin of the Safety and
Accident Investigation Centre, Cranfield University said; "The
system will not only provide assured truth data required by
investigations, but it can also detect and flag potentially unsafe
situations before they occur. Our vision of the future is that
flight crews in abnormal situations have access to much better
support than what's presently possible."
Paul Roux, Managing Director of
South African aircraft tracking and data transmission systems
manufacturer SatAuth, said: "CGI's UVFDR will offer our customers
the opportunity to not only meet the GADSS mandates, but to improve
their operational data and information management beyond mere
compliance, leading the way in integrated cutting-edge 21st century
aviation safety technology."
CGI has been delivering complex, mission-critical space software
systems supporting satellite navigation, communications and
operations, to space enabled applications for over 40
years.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and
business consulting services firms in the world. With 91,000
consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an
end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and
business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business
process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works
with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a
global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform
their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2022
reported revenue is $12.87 billion
and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE
(GIB). Learn more at cgi.com.
About Code Magus Limited
Code Magus Limited has been working together with SatAuth for a
number of years, providing product, security interface and
integration architectures for the SatAuth GCP server. They are
responsible for data security, encryption, replication, and fault
detection for local and international financial institutions'
complicated infrastructure networks, and have devised algorithms
for the detection of core system failures which significantly
reduce the institutions' exposure to hardware malfunctions. Code
Magus also conducts non-functional and high throughput transaction
testing, transaction security and integrity software as well as
high throughput transaction validation. Learn more
at www.codemagus.com
About SatAuth
SatAuth is about providing secure efficient Tracking and
Alerting Solutions to Airline quality standards. Following
extensive testing and EASA certification, SatAuth has completed
installation and situational testing on a number of commercial
airliners since 2016, capturing volumes of autonomous data
invaluable to understanding aircraft in-flight parameters, and
delivering these directly to the Airline customer via a secured
portal designed to specifically meet our customers' requirements.
We pride ourselves in designing solutions which are flexible to
accommodate not only regulations, but providing additional services
capable of delivering a return on investment for
customers. Learn more at www.satauth.com
About the European Space
Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe's gateway to space. ESA is an
intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission
to shape the development of Europe's space capability and ensure that
investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of
Europe and the world. Learn more
at https://www.esa.int/
About ESA's 4S programme
ESA's strategic programme 'Space Systems for Safety &
Security' works on innovative and secure satellite communication
systems, and their integration into public and private terrestrial
networks to enhance safety, resilience and security within society.
The programme supports services, systems, technologies and product
development addressing safety and security. For more
information:
https://artes.esa.int/space-systems-safety-and-security-4s
About the UK Space
Agency
The UK Space Agency inspires and leads the UK in space to
benefit our planet and its people.
UK Space Agency is an executive agency, sponsored by the
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Learn more about
our downstream applications funding.
About AWS
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world's most comprehensive and
broadly adopted cloud, offering over 200 fully featured services
from data centers globally. Millions of customers—including the
fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading
government agencies—are using AWS to lower costs, become more
agile, and innovate faster.
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SOURCE CGI Inc.