Technology

Delhi, 14th October, 2024: Honeywell Automation India Limited (HAIL) has secured a contract to provide its Airfield Ground Lighting (“AGL”) system for the Noida International Airport (“NIA”). These systems will provide visual guidance to aircraft, increasing safety and streamlining operations across the tarmac. Honeywell’s visual aids will play a crucial role in helping aircraft maneuver the tarmac in difficult weather conditions and will support landing and on-ramp safety. Honeywell’s advanced AGL uses ‘intelligent lighting’ technology, which makes the ground taxi process easier for pilots. AGL will also help pilots improve their own situational awareness by automatically switching lights on and off based on information shared by aircraft surveillance and tracking systems with tower controllers. Noida International Airport represents a significant leap forward in advancing India’s aviation sector, and we are pleased to have secured this visionary project, ensuring the highest standards of safety and operational efficiency with our advanced technology,” said Atul Pai, Managing Director, Honeywell Automation India Limited (HAIL). Christoph Schnellmann, CEO, Noida International Airport said, “We are delighted to partner with Honeywell to bring their Airfield Ground Lighting system to Noida International Airport. The implementation of the state-of-the-art system will ensure superior visual guidance and operational efficiency, aligning with our mission to provide a safe and seamless experience for all airport users.” The project covers the supply, installation, commissioning, and maintenance of Honeywell’s AGL system on runway 10L-28R and the associated taxiways at NIA. Honeywell has a broad portfolio of technologies in use at airports across India and also has end-to-end AGL system operations in the country, including design, manufacturing, assembly, installation, commissioning, and service support. The first phase of the airport will feature one runway and one terminal, with the capacity to handle traffic of 12 million passengers annually. Upon completion of all four development phases, the airport will be able to cater to 70 million passengers per year.

LEE-ON-THE-SOLENT, UK,July 23 2024: An advanced airborne 5G connectivity system has been successfully integrated to a Britten-Norman Islander aircraft, completing a series of demonstration flights. The groundbreaking technology is being developed by a number of UK companies led by Stratospheric Platforms Limited (SPL), a leading Non-Terrestrial Networks telecoms developer, with design, integration and demonstration flights provided by manufacturer Britten-Norman. SPL is at the forefront of developing airborne antennas to deliver widescale high performance 5G coverage. This technology offers numerous valuable applications, such as quickly restoring networks after major disasters like earthquakes or tsunamis, where traditional mobile network infrastructure has been disrupted. On 18th July 2024, the project team were joined by distinguished guests from potential customers and investors to observe the installation of the array under real flight conditions during an event at Britten-Norman’s Solent Airport aircraft maintenance (MRO) facility. The trial, conducted by Britten-Norman’s Flight Test Organisation, aimed to demonstrate the aircraft’s capability to operate safely with the large 5G phased array antenna installed. Key aspects of the flight test programme included assessment of aircraft performance and handling qualities, covering both normal and emergency operation. This will support full certification of the system, enabling integration in terrestrial telecoms network at connection speeds of up to 200Mbps over 15,000km2. The turboprop BN2T-4S Islander variant was chosen for its robust design, all-weather capability, exceptional endurance and payload capacity. In addition, the aircraft’s modular design makes it an ideal platform for integration of large mission system payloads, whilst retaining a rapid re-role capability for other taskings. The next phase of the project involves demonstrating the technology via a connection to a private UK-based national 5G telecommunications network. This innovative project represents a significant leap forward in airborne telecommunications, bringing reliable, high-speed 5G connectivity from the sky one step closer to fruition. Richard Deakin, CEO at Stratospheric Platforms Limited said: “Stratospheric Platforms is dedicated to creating pioneering innovative solutions that transform the connectivity landscape. Our commitment to delivering high-altitude, zero-carbon, long-endurance communication platforms will revolutionize how the world stays connected, especially in remote and underserved regions. We believe that our cutting-edge technology will provide unprecedented opportunities for global communication and create a more connected and inclusive world. Today’s flight test is an important step in the continuing validation of our technology breakthroughs.” Dr Garnet Ridgway, Head of Flight Dynamics at Britten-Norman, remarked: “This project demonstrates the full capabilities of both Britten-Norman as an accomplished trials organisation and the turboprop Islander as a highly capable trials aircraft. Working closely with our partners, the project includes deliverables from our design, manufacture, MRO, flight test and flight operations teams. It’s always satisfying to deliver a safe and effective flight test programme, but the huge potential of SPL’s system and the collaborative nature of the team made this one particularly exciting. The large and complex nature of the system places significant demands on the host aircraft. However, the BN2T-4S performed admirably; the combination of payload capacity, endurance, climb performance, twin engine reliability, robustness and electrical power generation makes it unbeatable for this mission.”

Abu Dhabi, 3rd May 2024: Etihad Airways has launched reciprocal interline partnerships with five new airline partners, further expanding travel options for guests across its expanding global network.The airline has agreed partnerships with Kam Air in Afghanistan, SKY express in Greece, Rex Airlines in Australia, Jeju Air in Korea and Myanmar Airways International. The interline agreements give customers of all airlines involved enhanced connectivity to destinations across each other’s networks, enabling guests to book their entire journey on a single ticket and have their baggage checked through seamlessly to their end destination. Arik De, Etihad’s Chief Revenue and Commercial Officer, said: “We continue to broaden our network reach enabling seamless connection across our network, giving our guests a broader range of travel options. These five interline agreements make life easier for guests of all the airlines involved.” These new partnerships offer a range of new options for Etihad’s guests. At Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport guests from all over the world can connect to the Kam Air flight to Kabul and travel onward into Afghanistan.Guests flying on Etihad’s twice daily flights to Athens, can connect onwards with SKY express to 28 destinations in Greece and its beautiful Mediterranean islands.Rex Airlines provides travellers with effortless access from Etihad’s gateways in Sydney and Melbourne to 22 destinations in Australia, including Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast. With Jeju Air guests can continue their journey from Seoul to 27 destinations across seven countries in Northeast Asia.Links with Myanmar Airways International will give enhanced access to Yangon and Mandalay through Etihad’s gateways in South Asia. Etihad now has 123 interline, codeshare and strategic partnerships with airlines across the world. The expanded interline offerings are available to book now across Etihad sales channels, including Etihad.com and travel agents.

Gurugram, 20 March 2024: Air India will be offering Self-Service Check-in and Self Baggage Drop facilities for its passengers travelling to San Francisco from the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru from today onwards.The facility is already available for the domestic flights of Air India from the airport and plans are underway to extend this service to Singapore and Male, the two other international destinations Air India operates to from Bengaluru. The automated initiative will offer a smooth and seamless airport experience to a large number of our tech-savvy guests travelling from Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India, to the US Silicon Valley – the tech hub of the world. Inaugurating the facility, Donald Hunter, Head Global Airport Operations and Ground Handling,Air India, said, “We are focussed on elevating customer experience at every touchpoint. This facility eliminates waiting time for check-in at the counters and offers our passengers a smooth pre-boarding experience. We have plans to extend this facility for our flights at more Indian and global airports.” Senior officials from BIAL, CISF and Air India were present on the occasion. The automated self check-in and baggage drop facilities will offer Air India passengers a seamless experience from printing boarding passes or baggage tags, and dropping their baggage at designated slots on their own, obviating the need to check in over the counters. This will not only save precious time and ensure a seamless check-in experience for our passengers but also offer them more freedom to enjoy their travel experience. Passengers can now customise their trips by selecting their preferred seats, if available, update frequent flyer details, and enjoy other facilities from the kiosk itself. Earlier, Air India had introduced an integrated self-baggage drop and self-kiosk check-in service at Terminal 3, Delhi airport for domestic and only Australia-bound international flights.

Delhi, 25th Feb 2024: In a significant move to enhance educational tourism, Mastereign Group (Singapore) and STIC Travel Group (India)announced an exclusive partnership agreement. This collaboration marked a milestone for both organizations, aiming to introduce innovative educational tours specifically designed for Indian students. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Terry Lim, Managing Director for Mastereign Group said, “We at Mastereign Group are thrilled to embark on this partnership with STIC, marking a significant step towards enriching the educational journey of Indian students through immersive and fun-filled interactive experiences in Singapore. This learning travel programme is an opportunity to foster global understanding, cultural exchange, and the development of international perspectives among students. By blending the cultural heritage and innovative landscape particularly in sustainable development of Singapore with the vibrant energy and aspirations of Indian students, we aim to create unforgettable learning experiences that instruct, impact and inspire. Together, we are setting the stage for a new era of educational excellence and international collaboration.” Under this exclusive partnership, Mastereign will be conducting educational tours in Singapore, offering students from India an unparalleled opportunity to explore the country’s sustainability and technological efforts, cultural heritage and educational excellence. STIC Travel Group will serve as the exclusive sales and marketing partner in India, leveraging its extensive network of channel partners and sales expertise to promote these co-created and branded educational tour packages, along with other add-on programs tailored to the students’ enrichment learning and development needs through fun filled experiential activities. STIC will also have exclusive access to Mastereign’s holistic range of add-on programs for the India Educational Tour market. “We are delighted to bring such a meaningful partnership to the Indian travel landscape that prioritizes education and responsible learning,” said Mr. Subhash Goyal, Chairman of STIC Travel Group. “At STIC, we are committed to working with organizations that share our philosophy on travel as a means of lifelong learning, and the Mastereign Group, with their experience in providing best-in-class enrichment programs in Singapore, is the perfect partner to launch such a product.” In reference to the significance of educational tours, Mr. Goyal emphasized, “Educational tours are a vital component of student development, offering unique experiences that foster learning, cultural exchange, and personal growth. Through this partnership, Mastereign and STIC are committed to providing students with immersive educational experiences that go beyond traditional classroom learning.”

GENEVA,23rd February 2024: SITA is celebrating its 75th anniversary, marking seven and a half decades of groundbreaking innovation, unwavering commitment, and exceptional service to the aviation industry. Founded in 1949 by 11 pioneering airlines, SITA has been owned by the air transport industry and driven by its needs since its inception. SITA’s history is one of constant technological innovation, starting in 1950 when it took its first steps towards creating the world’s largest data network, which stretched across 75 communication centers for 52 airline members by 1957. In 1966, SITA launched the world’s first working network to use packet switching principles, continuing to harness the most cutting-edge developments in IT and telecommunications—even contributing to the creation of the internet in 1969 by activating the world’s first nodal distributed network. Over the decades, as SITA continued to constantly improve and build upon its network, it also expanded its expertise to support airlines, airports, and governments in processing passengers and baggage, managing borders, driving digital efficiencies and sustainability for aircraft, and beyond. In 1984, in time to support the needs of airlines, airports, and passengers for the Los Angeles Olympic Games, SITA introduced its Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) system which multiplied tenfold the number of airlines a domestic US terminal could handle. SITA’s involvement in key global sporting events did not end there, from developing the world’s first e-visa system for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, to working closely with government, airport, and airline stakeholders to integrate digital identity and travel authorization for fans’ smooth arrival at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In 2017, SITA introduced its ground-breaking biometric ID management technology SITA Smart Path for seamless passenger journeys, supporting airports’ and airlines’ shift to touchless, digital travel through the COVID-19 pandemic and evolving into the future with universal digital identities. “As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, we remain steadfast in our commitment to reinvent travel and transport,” said David Lavorel, CEO at SITA. “Our vision is fueled by our passion for the industry, our forward-looking expertise, and our dedication to positively impacting our customers’ business.” SITA’s focus on the fast-evolving industry is evident in its strategic direction, which emphasizes flexibility, agility, and innovation. The company is committed to continued transitions to Cloud and SaaS solutions, as well as frictionless end-to-end journeys with data insights and visibility to optimize operations and touchpoints across the journey. Key priorities include the industry’s operational excellence, digital transformation and sustainability, including turnaround optimization, fully biometric journeys, and efficient aircraft. “As we look ahead, SITA remains dedicated to shaping the future of travel and transport,” added Lavorel. “Our continuous investments in innovation and strategic initiatives underscore our commitment to driving positive industry change. Our strategic direction reflects significant self-funded investments to explore opportunities and achieve sustainable organic and inorganic growth. We are committed to delivering against top agenda items, including operational excellence, sustainability, agility, and resilience.” SITA’s leadership role in the travel and transport industry extends to achieving leadership in fast-evolving trends, technologies, and industry requirements. The company is focused on building on its existing leadership as well as new growth areas such as regional airports, vertiports, sustainability, air traffic management, digital travel, and identities, as well as the maritime and rail industries.

Feature In aviation, a Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) is an accident in which an airworthy aircraft, fully under pilot’s control, is unintentionally flown into the ground, a mountain, a body of water or an obstacle. In a typical CFIT scenario, the crew is unaware of the impending disaster until it is too late. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 17% of all General Aviation fatalities are as a result of CFIT accidents. As per FAA in 2015, 384 people died in 238 general aviation accidents and CFIT was the second leading cause. The key cause of CFIT accidents is loss of situational awareness. CFIT: Facts Check a) CFIT accidents are not limited to inexperienced pilots. Well experienced pilots are just as likely to be involved in CFIT accidents. b) CFIT accidents are not more frequently at night. Nearly 75% of CFIT accidents occur during day time hours. c) CFIT accidents occur more frequently during single pilot operations but can also occur during crewed flight. d) More than half of CFIT accidents occur during IMC. e) More than two third of all CFIT accidents are the result of altitude error or Vertical Situational Awareness. f) With a properly trained crew in Crew Resource Management (CRM), the second pilot may make the difference between a Safe flight and a CFIT accident. Leading Causes a) Faulty Judgement / Poor Decision Making:- Most CFIT accidents involve faulty judgement and decision making. For example, making the decision to continue flight when weather or other conditions have deteriorated to minimum VFR visibilities or below. b) Low Altitude:- Flight in unfamiliar terrain at low altitudes expose the aircraft to hazards such as power cables and towers. Power lines are difficult to see until they are too close to avoid. Therefore, pre-flight review of maps, charts for indication of towers, power lines and other terrain elevations is essential. c) Procedural Errors During IFR Flight Operations:- Misreading Minimum Descent Altitude (MDA) or beginning approach descent without confirmed glide scope interception. d) Training:- Training of crew and familiarisation with aircraft and the area of operations forms an integral part of avoiding CFIT accidents. e) In Flight Decision Making:- Avoid the attitudes like ‘this is just a local weather phenomenon, will clear in just a few miles or I am instruments rated or I have flown many many times earlier.’ f) Lack of Pre-Flight Planning:- Failing to review aeronautical charts for Minimum Safe Altitude (MSA), obstacles and terrain elevations can result in operating at unsafe low altitudes. In helicopter operations local area maps of half a million scale, study of map contours, ridge lines and weather patterns play a crucial role. How to Avoid CFIT? a) Pilot Attributes:- Two most important pilot attributes are pre-flight preparations and exercising sound judgement (on the cautious side). Even flying in familiar terrain, work out safe get always. For IFR flight, be sure to note the Minimum En route Altitudes for all segments. b) Know your Aircraft:- Knowledge of aircraft performance like realistic maximum rate of climb or making a 180° turn under instrument conditions etc etc. Do not accept ATC procedures or instructions that would put the aircraft and the passengers in a potentially dangerous situation. c) Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS):- TAWS is an onboard system intended to prevent CFIT. It provides the pilot with early aural and visual warning of impending terrain. With proper pre-flight planning, pilot will know where he is in relation to terrain. When the TAWS issues a low altitude alert, the pilot will immediately begin a climb or turn to avoid higher terrain. Some aircraft also use Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) and (EGPWS). The basic TAWS include a Forward-Looking Terrain Avoidance (FLTA) function that looks ahead of the aircraft along and below the aircraft’s lateral and vertical flight path and provide suitable alerts. Pre-flight / In flight Planning Tool Pre-flight / Inflight planning and assessment tools, if applied consistently will reduce the chances of a CFIT. Some tools are illustrated below: – a) Safety Risk Assessment (SRA): – Use of Safety Risk Matrix to assess likely areas of potential dangers. b) Safety Risk Management (SRM):- It is vital to know what a pilot is going into and what capabilities and resources are available to ensure flight is completed safely. c) Aeronautical Decision Making:- Use of PAVE check list for personalised risk assessment before a flight. In this, the pilot divides the risk of flight into four categories:- * P- Pilot in Command:- Pilot must ask ‘Am I ready for the flight in terms of experience, recency, currency, physical and emotional conditions. Pilot should use IMSAFE acronym to asses health condition. IMSAFE stands for Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue and Emotion. * A- Aircraft:- What limitations the aircraft will impose upon the trip. *V- environment:- Weather is a major environmental consideration. Cloud ceiling, winds and visibility keeping terrain in mind must be adequately addressed. * E- External Pressures:- These are influences external to the flight that create a sense of pressure to complete a flight; often at the expense of safety. For example: the general goal completion orientation or desire to impress someone. Probably the two most dangerous words in aviation are ‘watch this’. The use of personal Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is one way to manage external pressures. Conclusion Too frequently, in flight conditions may not be as forecast, requiring the pilots to make on the spot decisions about continuing, diverting, climbing, descending or return to base to fly another day. Be ready and willing to adjust your plan and do not allow ‘get- there – it – is’ to cloud better judgement. Flying in less-than-ideal conditions promote fatigue and fatigue can affect decision making. Identify alternates for landing and wait out bad weather rather than making a bad decision. Keep skills sharp by flying Simulator to include realistic graphics in unfamiliar environment. IF not flying often or need to brush up skills, schedule a scenario based CFIT avoidance training flight with a

Gurugram,10 November 2023: Air India has become the world’s first airline to have successfully deployed a Generative AI virtual agent, called ‘Maharaja’, powered by Azure OpenAI service. It has successfully answered over half a million customer queries since its pilot launch in March 2023, and it today manages over 6,000 queries a day in four languages. Air India’s Maharaja AI Agent manages an extensive spectrum of customer queries across 1,300 areas related to flight status, baggage allowances, packing restrictions, check-in, frequent flyer awards, airport lounge access, flight changes, refunds and more. To meet the needs of guests around the world, Maharaja speaks four languages: Hindi, English, French, and German. Of the 6,000-plus questions received each day, over 80% are successfully answered in seconds. About 15% of customer queries today require additional assistance, and Maharaja recognises this automatically and orchestrates a seamless handoff to Air India’s contact centre agents. Dr. Satya Ramaswamy, Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Air India, said: “We are dedicated to providing the best possible service and experience to our valued guests across channels. We also want to be very responsive to their changing preferences. After the emergence of Large Language Model driven Generative AI capabilities, we are increasingly seeing a definitive shift in guest preferences to use chat interactions to get the information and support they need quickly and directly as compared to browsing several web pages.” “We have used several patent-pending innovations in our AI agent Maharaja with a combination of traditional machine learning techniques and the latest in Generative AI to provide a pleasing and effective experience for our customers. Many more innovations are in the pipeline and will be made live in the months to come.” “We are pleased to see Air India’s successful deployment of their AI-powered agent, Maharaja, and the use of Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to provide a personalized and relevant customer experience. We believe that this is the beginning of a new era of customer service, and we look forward to seeing more organizations use the power of Generative AI and our AI-optimized Azure cloud to provide a seamless and efficient customer experience,” said Marco Casalaina, Vice President, AI Platform, Microsoft. Leveraging the generative AI technology to the full extent, Air India uses ChatGPT to analyse even some complex questions it may not be able to immediately answer to improve customer experience in later interactions. This has allowed Air India’s newest customer service channel to progressively learn and improve, becoming more attuned to natural language. Air India has employed a strategy that involves blending of multiple traditional machine learning techniques alongside Generative AI to provide a compelling consumer-grade experience. Air India has also established safeguards to prevent biased or harmful language from infiltrating its conversational AI system. Unlike rule-based or keyword-based chatbots, Generative AI solutions understand the intent and context of a user’s query and generate a natural and coherent reply. This enhances user experience and satisfaction, while reducing the need for human intervention. It also helps to automate repetitive and mundane tasks, such as booking, cancellation, confirmation, etc., and free up bandwidth for human agents to focus on more complex and value-adding interactions. In the coming months, Air India plans to launch a host of sophisticated features, driven by patent-pending technologies. This includes a novel user experience that changes the way customers interact with AI agents with a combination of textual and graphical interactions that can potentially further speed up customer interactions. Some of these innovations have been incubated for more than 2 years. Air India also plans to enhance the current AI agent with data-driven deep-personalisation capabilities that will elevate the technology to that of a reliable personal assistant for all air travel needs. The capabilities of the AI agent will include travel inspiration and effortless booking experiences. Support for more Indian languages is also in the works.

Industry 4.0 is now mainstream in manufacturing processes worldwide. Although A&D was slow to adopt initially, it is so well on course with 4.0 implementations.Now among A&D circles, attention is turning to the next evolution of smart and intelligent manufacturing—Industry 5.0. Here, Matt Medley, Global Industry Director, A&D, IFS, analyses the key implications for A&D manufacturing, from humanised robots (cobots) and assistive wearable to build to order and hyper globalisation pullback. Although Industry 5.0 is still an emerging approach, early understanding is that it is not just the new technology, but a more encompassing approach to the use of technology in a societal environment. This is evidenced by theEuropean Commission Policy Brief that set out its vision for Industry 5.0—“that aims beyond efficiency and productivity as the sole goals and reinforces the role and the contribution of industry to society.” It should complement the existing “Industry 4.0” approach by specifically putting research and innovation at the service of the transition to a sustainable, human-centric and resilient manufacturing industry. North American organisations, too, have Industry 5.0 in their sights. North American respondents to a recent Boyden Executive Survey were intensely focused on the human core of Industry 5.0, with growth driven by innovation and human capital, and structural change driven by competing for the right talent to leverage digital advances. There are some core themes shaping Industry 5.0 within A&D manufacturing as it becomes a more established manufacturing approach. 1.Technology 4.5 – the digital thread that is bridging the gap to new manufacturing approaches – Meet the Cobot! While its foundations have yet to settle one thing is certain—technology is providing an initial steppingstone towards the core themes of 5.0.IoT, additive manufacturing, augmented reality, and digital twins are all processes that have gained credence in factories and assets to make the output of manufacturing projects quicker, more efficient, and data-driven. This has allowed a “digital thread” to be built across A&D equipment from design, through to prototyping, manufacturing, and even in-service support. Enter the collaborative robot, or “cobot”. The International Centre for Industrial Transformation views Industry 5.0 as “…an add-on to Industry 4.0, building upon the groundwork laid by these smart technologies. While the focus of Industry 4.0 was connectivity, digitalisation and automation, Industry 5.0 highlights the importance of human-robot collaboration and the relationship between man and machine, or ‘cobots’.” 5.0 will build the relationship between man and machine New technology applications are emerging as part of Industry 5.0 that focus more on the people executing the manufacturing—particularly to improve their physical capability and safety.In an A&D context, we will start to see and indeed are already seeing technology and equipment from a military background becoming commercialised. Take the example of the Lockheed Martin Onyx Exoskeleton, which uses AI, gathers movement data from users’ feet, knee, and hip sensors and forwards it to a control module stationed on the waist which instructs the exoskeleton to move accordingly to counteract over stress on the back during operations. Commercially, Boeing has been trialing an EksoVest from Ekso Bionics, an upper-body lifting exoskeleton designed to increase productivity and reduce fatigue, and found that it caused an increase in worker speed in test groups of South Carolina mechanics. Human-centric robotics developments do include the rise of “cobots”, where human operators can efficiently and safely work next to robots to perform key manufacturing tasks. As part of its “Smart Factory 2025” initiative, Audi has flagged one of its key aims to enhance this type of human-robot interaction (HRI). Beyond physical technologies there are also interesting neurological tech applications such as brain-computer interface (BCI), for example Neuralink, giving humans the ability to directly control machines without the physical constraints of the body—but we are some way off before seeing such technology fully commercialised. 2.Human Centricity – 5.0 will make manufacturing desirable again to address the skills shortage The latest stats from EY, conducted with the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), on the state of the A&D manufacturing workforce show the sector is experiencing the same sort of workforce and skills gaps as the wider manufacturing sector. As many as 69% of A&D manufacturing respondents strongly agree or agree that their organisation’s turnover has significantly increased within the last 12 months—demonstrating the intense competition and lack of readily available labour. Across current workforces there is a strong skew towards older employees—in terms of workforce age composition, survey results showed that employees aged 55 and older represent over a quarter of the workforce (28%), the highest of any age demographic. Assistive wearables The increasing development and use of the man/machine and technology/human interface can help provide some immediate relief for current older workers and attract new younger generations into the A&D manufacturing workspace. Assistive wearable tech can help older workers reaching retirement age achieve more power and productivity, putting less strain on them physically and also boosting safety. With this increasing digital focus, unlike some traditional views of the sector being a lower skilled “blue collar” job market, manufacturing is becoming a more exciting and desirable workplace once again. With more cutting-edge manufacturing and engineering tech, high-skills and high-paid jobs are becoming available as manufacturing becomes smarter and more intelligent. Make to order – purchasing goes personal: A&D manufacturers will need the digital thread to enable hyper-personalisation It’s not only employees who stand to benefit from a more people-centric approach within Industry 5.0.Hyper-personalisation is becoming an expected part of everyday life for consumers—consider real-time mobile alerts when walking past a shop or advertising board for a brand or product, or even dynamic digital price tags as individual consumers shop for goods. This move towards personalisation and individual buyer requirements is already reflected on the production side by customers looking for A&D assets and equipment. Make-to-order, configure-to-order, engineer-to-order, assemble-to-order are becoming common requirements for A&D equipment manufacturing. Smarter factories and digitally-focused products provide that coherent digital thread that can feed data back into the manufacturing process to allow quick changes to