Changi Airport launches S$50 million programme to create next generation of solutions for the airport

Jan 05, 2017: Changi Airport Group (CAG) has launched a new S$50 million programme ‘Changi Airport Living Lab Programme, in partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), to drive innovation over the next five years.

The programme will see CAG collaborating with innovation-driven companies and start ups, to develop and demonstrate new technology solutions, in a live airport environment.

This programme is in response to fast changing needs of the travellers’.

CAG hopes to partner companies and start ups to capture the many opportunities emerging in the burgeoning air travel market. With the support of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, the Living Lab Programme is a platform for CAG, and partners in the airport community (including government agencies, ground-handlers, concessionaires, security providers and cleaning companies etc.) to co-create, test and demonstrate new solutions to future proof the airport.

CAG is looking at several technology areas where the airport is ready for innovation and adoption. The areas are automation and robotics, Data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT), non-intrusive security technologies and smart infrastructure management.

Changi Airport has already started working with partners to test solutions in some of these areas to achieve a more seamless and positive experience for passengers and visitors to the airport. For example, it has been running prototype trials for autonomous cleaning robots to clean the vast tracts of floors in the airport terminals. It is also exploring the use of automated guided vehicles to ferry passengers between terminals. Another example is taxi queue analytics, whereby sensors are used to determine the number of people in taxi queues and the estimated wait time. This would allow the airport to provide travellers with better advice on ground transport options during peak periods, as well as alert taxi drivers about impending demand for taxis at the airport.

Through this programme, Changi Airport aims to forge win-win collaborations with its innovation partners. Currently, there are more than 55 million passengers passing through Changi Airport each year, generating over S$2 billion in concession sales. CAG believes that this is a rich eco-system that companies can tap on to test, refine and demonstrate their solutions.

Lee Seow Hiang, CEO of CAG, said, “Building innovation today is critical to transforming our business and operations for the future. We look forward to partnering established companies and enterprising start-ups to develop cutting-edge technologies for the airport. Through our Living Lab collaborations, I believe that we can add value to our partners in helping them scale up their solutions for real-world applications.”

Beh Swan Gin, EDB’s chairman, said, “The Living Lab is aligned with EDB’s goals of fostering a vibrant eco-system of technology providers driving innovation and creating new businesses from Singapore.”

Photo: From left: Jayson Goh, CAG; Lee Seow Hiang, CAG; Beh Swan Gin, EDB; Thien Kwee Eng, EDB and Bernard Siew, CAG.