Chief of Innovation - Smorto (Enav): droni, nuove rotte e sistemi avanzati
(Adnkronos) - Cieli sempre più affollati, questo sarà un altro anno record. Due milioni di voli solcheranno i cieli italiani. Sulle nostre teste, non autostrade ma un’infrastruttura complessa di rotte che si aggiornano continuamente grazie alla tecnologia. Giorgio Rutelli e Rosario Cerra ne hanno parlato nel nuovo episodio di Chief of Innovation, serie ideata e prodotta da Adkronos e Centro Economia Digitale, con Vincenzo Smorto, chief technology officer di Enav. Si tratta di sicurezza, puntualità e anche sostenibilità: “Quest’anno gli aerei che volano sullo spazio aereo italiano risparmieranno globalmente circa 90 mln di kg di carburante grazie a traiettorie dirette”, spiega Smorto, “il tutto grazie al free route, che consente a tutti i velivoli sopra la quota di 6.500 metri di attraversare i cieli nazionali con percorsi diretti senza far più riferimento al network di rotte che sopra quella quota sono state completamente eliminate. Questa procedura sarà obbligatoria su tutta Europa entro la fine del 2025. L’Italia è il primo paese ad aver anticipato i tempi di quasi due anni”. Con l’ingegnere abbiamo parlato di nuove assunzioni, di torri di controllo digitali, che nei prossimi anni sostituiranno quelle fisiche, consentendo un livello impareggiabile di "visuale" sull'aeroporto e sulle zone limitrofe. E' già il caso di Brindisi, dove pochi giorni fa sono atterrati delegazioni e capi di Stato del G7 con decine di voli senza che ci sia stato alcun intoppo. Enav produce tecnologia che viene poi venduta e adottata all’estero, e ha appena siglato un accordo con Amazon per la consegna di merci attraverso droni. Nell’intervista, Smorto spiega nel dettaglio come funziona il settore dei velivoli senza pilota.
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00:00Welcome to CFO of Innovation. I am Giorgio Rutelli and with me today is Rosario Scerra,
00:14President of Centro Economia Digitale, who together with ADN Kronos has created and produced
00:19this series. Our guest today is Vincenzo Smorto, who is the Chief Technology Officer of ENAV.
00:26Welcome.
00:27Thank you. Good morning.
00:29Welcome.
00:30Well, the first question is, let's say, an existential question. What is ENAV today?
00:36Because ENAV has had various phases in its business life. What does it do and what is ENAV today?
00:44ENAV is the company that deals with air traffic control throughout the national territory.
00:51So, it has the role of ensuring traffic flow in conditions of complete safety and punctuality.
01:02All this is carried out through four radar control centers, which control flights when they are in flight,
01:10and 45 control towers dedicated instead to traffic control on the airport surface.
01:18ENAV has developed a whole series of technologies in support of air traffic control,
01:25because the work of the flight controller, which is the most well-known one,
01:29and which is in contact day by day, hour by hour, 24 hours a day, with the planes in flight,
01:35is supported by a large amount of technology that is behind it.
01:40The radar, which is certainly the most iconic and well-known thing,
01:44the radio systems and many other data processing and processing systems
01:50that help the controllers to make their decisions in the most correct and timely way.
01:57In this, ENAV participates in a series of international research initiatives
02:03aimed at modernizing and innovating all this technological park
02:09that traces the future of the so-called Single European Sky.
02:13So, a complex of new technologies, new regulations, new air traffic control procedures
02:20that will allow to further improve safety and punctuality of flights
02:26and to manage, above all, increasing volumes of traffic.
02:30Because one of the great challenges of air traffic control
02:33is to be able to ensure all these performance in the presence of increasing volumes of traffic.
02:40All this, maximally guaranteeing the sustainability of the flights that take place on the territory.
02:50Perfect. I would start exactly from the last things you said.
02:55The skies are getting more and more crowded.
02:57Obviously, there are no physical highways in the skies,
03:00there are no physical highways and roads,
03:03but there is a whole very articulated system of management.
03:08This year, if I'm not mistaken, on the Italian skies we will have about 2 million vehicles
03:13that will pass over, therefore a very high complexity
03:17and the technological level of innovation is rising more and more to manage this complexity.
03:24Let's think that we have to manage the flight plans,
03:27we have to manage the weather situations,
03:30we have to manage the coordinates, the trajectories and everything.
03:34All this to ensure that you travel safely,
03:38you travel with punctuality and you consume less fuel.
03:42Here, the question is whether you consume less fuel.
03:45What can ENAV do to improve environmental sustainability?
03:50Yes, let's say managing these volumes of traffic,
03:53ensuring, in addition to safety, punctuality, also sustainability goals,
04:00is a frontier that is clearly now very careful,
04:05but in reality ENAV has been working on it for several years.
04:08We have clearly developed, together with airlines, together with airport providers,
04:15a whole series of initiatives aimed at reducing this.
04:19Both for the ground movements of the aircraft,
04:23the most recent part and also the one that guarantees the maximum savings
04:27is the so-called free route.
04:29You mentioned the highways of the sky before.
04:33In reality, until recently, there were highways of the sky,
04:37that is, even if not visible, they were traced on maps
04:41of which the pilots had roads,
04:44which were those obligated to be traveled by the aircraft.
04:48Now, in Italy, since December 2016,
04:52we have removed these highways above 9,000 meters,
04:56allowing the planes to fly in a straight line
05:00from the entry point to the exit point of the Italian airspace.
05:04In all this, among the great European providers,
05:09we were the first to do it,
05:11among other things, with many years in advance
05:14compared to the international regulation
05:17that provides for this type of innovation.
05:21A few months ago, in March,
05:23we lowered this level to 6,500 meters.
05:27So, from 6,500 meters above,
05:29an aircraft can fly in a completely straight line
05:34from the entrance to the exit of the Italian airspace.
05:37Also in this, among the great providers of air traffic control services,
05:42we were the first.
05:44All this guarantees an important level of savings.
05:50In the seven years from December 16 to December 23,
05:54the savings were about one billion kilograms of CO2.
05:59And every year, thanks to this reduction to 6,500 meters,
06:05we expect to guarantee our colleagues
06:08more than 250 million kilograms of CO2 emitted less every year.
06:16So this is the support that NAVA can give to sustainability,
06:19while in the meantime it guarantees safety and punctuality.
06:24Good. Instead, I would ask you about the skills.
06:29The company is looking for qualified staff,
06:36which at the moment is not easy to find in general,
06:39because we know that companies that have a technological vocation in Italy,
06:43like in the rest of the world,
06:45currently have a fairly narrow market,
06:51because there is a pool of talents that is not as wide as we would like.
06:58So what can ENAV offer to someone with a good curriculum
07:04to convince them to come and work for you?
07:08Let's say that ENAV is a company that, as we have seen,
07:13uses technology a lot in support of air traffic control.
07:17And I must say that the great challenge we have in front of us
07:20for the next 10-20 years is faced a lot, let's say, on a technological basis,
07:26because managing the volume of increasing traffic
07:30is achieved through automation levels, which we do not have today.
07:34We are starting to study them, to do some important research.
07:38I believe that a little bit from all fields,
07:42from technological degrees,
07:45we have to face absolutely innovative problems,
07:50both in surveillance systems,
07:52so how to see where the planes are,
07:54and in prediction systems,
07:56that is, to understand how traffic will develop in the future.
07:59Above all, the great frontier is to better support the controller,
08:05suggesting him actions on what he will have to do
08:09to solve the traffic situation and ensure, as always,
08:13accuracy and safety.
08:15So, these are all great challenges that I believe
08:20can be of great interest,
08:22clearly, for people working in the field of technology.
08:27It is obvious that the competition is very high.
08:29The number of people who leave technical schools and universities
08:35is not very high.
08:37For us, we believe that we can ensure,
08:41also for our peculiarity,
08:43because we are the subject that does the air traffic control,
08:47but we are a group that has technological societies
08:50in which we develop a good part of the objects
08:54that are then used by the controllers.
08:58Many of these objects, moreover,
09:00are subject to reselling abroad.
09:04In fact, even if perhaps the least known,
09:06we have only talked about the role of ENAV as a supplier
09:09of the air traffic control service in Italy,
09:12but a good part of the manufacturing we carry out,
09:15of the skills that are put into practice,
09:18are also resold on the international market
09:21to other foreign ENAVs, let's say.
09:25Tell me a moment about this possibility of internationalization,
09:30because the interesting thing is that one can say
09:34that it is a growing sector,
09:36because the projections on air traffic are growing,
09:39so one goes to work in a market that is projected upwards
09:43and therefore a market that can also grow as an occupation.
09:47So this is a point.
09:49And the other point is this fact of becoming a supplier
09:53of other international realities,
09:57which is not taken for granted today,
09:59in a phase in which, obviously, in Europe it is difficult,
10:03especially at the industrial level,
10:05to be a subject capable of exporting one's own know-how
10:12and also one's own intellectual property,
10:15one's own patents,
10:17and also the machines built internally.
10:22What are your experiences in this field?
10:26Let's say we have a fairly important experience on this,
10:31that is, the products of the group are installed in over 80 countries around the world
10:37on some specific segments of products.
10:42We are the leader, that is, the product of the ENAV group
10:45is the most sold in the world.
10:47We have an important target in the coming years
10:51to further increase this product portfolio
10:54and the volume of sales from abroad
10:57through an ever-increasing penetration of our commercial action
11:03and through the innovation that characterizes all these companies in the group.
11:11And the challenges that are actually inherent in air traffic control,
11:15because what we have talked about,
11:17being in the presence of a growing volume of traffic,
11:21cannot be solved by linearly increasing the number of controllers
11:27and the number of control positions,
11:30but through a regeneration and optimization of the control process,
11:36through a greater use of technology,
11:39a greater automation,
11:41which allows to make it more and more efficient and possible.
11:46Let's talk for a moment about the control towers.
11:49When you arrive at an airport,
11:51the control tower is the first visible, the highest,
11:55both in small airports, it reaches 30 meters,
11:59and in Malpensa it reaches 80 meters.
12:03So, in the coming years,
12:06there will be a dismissal of this technological model,
12:11of the control tower, in favor of digital control towers.
12:15We saw the G7 in Brindisi.
12:18Brindisi is an example of this dismissal,
12:20in the sense that it has been using a digital control tower for two years.
12:24Can you explain a little bit about this new technology and what are the advantages?
12:28Yes, let's say the digital control tower
12:31is one of the important innovation frontiers
12:35on which we are working at the European level.
12:37We are a few countries that, at the moment,
12:41have put into practice a technology of this type.
12:45We put it into practice two years ago in Brindisi,
12:49and it has therefore checked all the areas related to the G7.
12:54Basically, what are we going to change?
12:57Compared to the iconic control tower,
12:59in which the operational staff is at 50, 60 or 80 meters high,
13:05to have a physical view of the airport surface,
13:10there are cameras mounted on a truss,
13:14whose signal, of these cameras, is only about 20 generally,
13:18then the number can vary depending on the airport,
13:20it is used by a software to create a single integrated view
13:26on screens arranged at 180 degrees
13:30and to give the flight controller exactly the same perception
13:34as if it were in the traditional physical control tower.
13:40In addition to this aspect, let's say,
13:42these fixed cameras that give this panoramic view,
13:47there are a certain number of cameras,
13:49obviously brandable, that allow you to select a point,
13:53zoom in, follow objects.
13:56This, in a way, emulating what today
13:59the controller in the control tower does with the binoculars.
14:02In the control tower you look at the view,
14:04but you also use the binoculars.
14:06What are the additional products that the digital control tower offers
14:10compared to the physical one?
14:12That on this digitized image,
14:14information is highlighted,
14:18which is not present in the physical tower,
14:20so noteworthy objects, forbidden points,
14:24the tracks, especially in night conditions,
14:28let's say this is a great advantage,
14:30the so-called augmentation is carried out,
14:33that is, moving vehicles are tracked
14:38with a label that says who they are.
14:41So there are a series of additional auxiliaries
14:43to the controller and automations
14:46that allow you to obtain a result
14:49of greater security and greater accuracy.
14:52The other great advantage is that at this point
14:55the control is not carried out
14:58or may not be carried out locally,
15:01right inside the airport,
15:03but it is centralized in a single center,
15:06in Italy we expect to have two,
15:08where more towers are controlled,
15:12the so-called Remote Tower Control Center.
15:15What is the advantage of this?
15:17It is a great flexibility of operations,
15:20because at this point a pool of unified people
15:25is able to manage simultaneously from the same site more towers,
15:29and is able to adapt dynamically to traffic conditions.
15:33In Italy we obviously have many airports
15:37that operate with a strong seasonality,
15:39that is, in winter there is very little traffic,
15:41in summer there is a lot.
15:43Clearly this, with the physical tower crew,
15:46is difficult to manage,
15:47because it is not that I can dynamically change
15:50the people who are in a place.
15:52Instead, made by a single center,
15:54it allows you to dynamically adapt the crew
15:57and to better manage these traffic conditions,
16:00plus the other thing that is highly requested
16:02by some airports,
16:04to allow the so-called H24 to operate,
16:08that is, even during the night.
16:10Many of these small airports close at night
16:13and it is not possible to have
16:15an air traffic control service in case of emergency,
16:18if not by organizing very complex things.
16:20At this point, through technology,
16:22we are able, at even lower costs,
16:25to guarantee a superior service
16:27in terms of the number of hours of air traffic control.
16:32We know that all these new technologies
16:35will be added, one that is highly anticipated,
16:38which is the one that will help drones
16:42to carry out a whole series of services,
16:45the most varied, from delivery,
16:47moving and so on.
16:49And we know that the height at which drones will move
16:53will obviously be lower than that of planes.
16:56Can you explain how this type of control will work?
17:03And above all, it seems to me that Italy,
17:06after the United States in the West,
17:08is the first nation to implement it.
17:10So, so far we have talked about traditional planes,
17:14we have seen that there are already many challenges
17:16to manage growing traffic.
17:18In reality, there is a new player, let's say,
17:20that wants to intervene to arrange airspace
17:24and therefore goes in some way in tandem
17:28with traditional traffic, which are drones.
17:31So far, essentially relegated to a completely military use
17:36or to an amateur use.
17:39Now they are emerging and more and more
17:41there is a request instead of a systematic use
17:44of drone airspace,
17:47either for transport or photogrammetry,
17:50that is, operations in which, quite regularly,
17:54they must commit portions of the airspace for safety.
17:58At this moment, the regulation and the system
18:02that is being implemented,
18:04in which ENAV contributes through one of its controlled companies,
18:08which is called D-Flight,
18:09is precisely to guarantee the possibility for drones to fly
18:14up to a maximum height of about 500 feet.
18:17Here they use feet in the aeronautical world,
18:20but let's say about 170 meters, let's say.
18:24We are always feet and miles.
18:27So this space is so-called segregated,
18:31that is, the drone cannot go beyond,
18:34because beyond this limit it enters a part of the space
18:37that is intended for traditional aircraft.
18:41The services that must be provided are to ensure
18:46a series of information necessary for the drone to be able to operate,
18:49even at this limited height,
18:51which are the indication of the areas where there is the right of overflight,
18:55authorizations to be able to carry out certain types of missions,
19:00a series of information on phenomena or circumstances
19:06or on traffic.
19:09This, let's say, is only, if we want, the first step of an evolution
19:13that will take many years here too,
19:16but in the long run we must expect that even this traffic,
19:20as I said before, of the first pilot,
19:22with the growth of the performance of these vehicles,
19:26will always ask more and more to enter at higher heights
19:30to carry out operations that today are carried out with traditional vehicles.
19:34We are not talking about passenger transport, let's say,
19:37but many other types of operations will become efficient,
19:41obviously, if they can be carried out at increasing rates.
19:45So today we have this as our goal,
19:49and we are among the first to start
19:53setting up experiments to allow this type of flight
19:57in this space, let's call it segregated,
20:00so-called e-space.
20:02In the future, at this moment, we are in a research phase,
20:06but we will get there.
20:08We will have vehicles that will coexist with traditional vehicles,
20:12therefore mixing piloted traffic and unpiloted traffic.
20:16This is a great challenge for the future.
20:18Great.
20:19Speaking of drones, one last question.
20:21Can you tell us something about this agreement you made with Amazon,
20:24which, in short, we know that it has been announcing for years
20:28and trying to start a system of delivery of goods through drones,
20:34and now perhaps it has reached a turning point?
20:38Yes, let's say, ENAV has signed an agreement with Amazon
20:42precisely to carry out an experiment in this sense.
20:45Amazon has been working for a long time, essentially,
20:48on the flight segment, let's say,
20:50so to make flying objects that then have the capacity,
20:54the range, also a whole series of automatisms,
20:57clearly by means of the vehicle,
20:59to be able to transport objects and packages.
21:02The role of ENAV is, again, to ensure that the route,
21:07to put it in a terminology, let's say,
21:10of air traffic control, is then passable,
21:13that is, it does not invade areas that are forbidden,
21:16not flyable or dangerous for some reason.
21:19So we expect to start these experiments
21:24by the end of this year,
21:26and it will certainly be a first practical example, let's say,
21:30of a more intensive use of the so-called e-space,
21:34in addition to the, in short, quite material uses
21:38that we have so far.
21:40Well, thank you Vincenzo Smorto,
21:42thank you Rosario Cerda,
21:44my travel companion in this adventure,
21:46and see you in the next episode of Ciffa Winnovation.