Unlocking Innovation through the New Service Delivery Model

Report from the SESAR Innovation Days plenary panel

Europe's new service delivery model is emerging as a decisive enabler for modernising air traffic management, opening the door to faster innovation, greater interoperability, and more flexible service provision. This was the focus of a panel discussion at the SESAR Innovation Days (SIDs), held on 1-5 December up Slovenia, bringing together the academia and industry to discuss the new model and its roll-out.

The model sits at the heart of the European ATM Master Plan, which identifies it as one of the main transformation levers for the coming decade, as well as a strategic deployment objective to be rolled out between now and 2035. Support across the aviation community continues to grow, with ATM stakeholders signing a joint statement committing to the transition towards modular, cloud-enabled and service-oriented ATM.

The panel "Unlocking Innovation through the New Service Delivery Model", moderated by Andreas Boschen, Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking, brought together Elisabeth Landrichter, Austro Control, Jorge Mínguez Cortés, Indra, Hólmfríður Elvarsdóttir, Tern Systems and Prof. Tomislav Radišić, University of Zagreb. Together, they shared perspectives spanning operations, technology provision, innovation, and academia.

Andreas Boschen opened the session by highlighting the urgency of change. Air travel has evolved rapidly, yet the systems managing our skies have not always kept pace. Much of Europe's ATM infrastructure still relies on legacy technologies that, while safe and proven, are increasingly stretched by demand and complexity. Ageing frameworks are becoming bottlenecks - limiting scalability, slowing deployment, and consuming engineering resources that could instead be used to deliver new capabilities. "The new service delivery model represents a decisive move away from a fragmented, inflexible model that has led to duplication, maintenance headaches, and delays in deploying innovation," he said. The panellists were unanimous: there is no alternative. Doing nothing is not an option - the current system will not be able to cope with future demand, and Europe's skies will risk congestion, inefficiency, and delayed innovation if action is not taken.

The discussion highlighted that breaking the dependency on bespoke, monolithic systems allows services to evolve more continuously, narrowing the gap between research, validation, and operations. Elisabeth Landrichter compared the new service deliver model with the evolution of the mobile phone, which moved from fixed-functions with limited compatibility in the early 2000s to today's smartphones with their interoperable platforms and third-party apps. She emphasised that the success of the new model depends not only on technology but also on active involvement of controllers and operational staff at every stage - from design to implementation. Their expertise ensures operational realities are embedded in the system, procedures remain practical, and staff feel confident using new tools. Engaging them early helps translate technical innovation into operational improvements while fostering a culture of ownership and continuous learning. Austro Control has committed to moving from an infrastructure-locked setup to an open ecosystem, recognising that only by combining technological change with human expertise can ATM keep pace with evolving network demands.

Jorge Mínguez Cortés underlined that the new model is not about breaking ATM into countless pieces but about modernising the system so ANSPs can develop solutions tailored to their needs. By creating clear standards and rules for modules, both large and small players can innovate rapidly. Around 60% of Indra's research already ends up in operational products, demonstrating that research can have direct operational impact, motivating engineers by allowing them to see prototypes realised in practice. He also highlighted challenges around liability and the need to clearly define the technical integrator's role as a single point of contact responsible for the whole system even if composed of modules from different vendors - akin to how apps can run on multiple smartphone platforms following clear rules.

Tomislav Radišić emphasised the untapped potential of young researchers and how the new model opens the door to bringing their innovations into ATM operations more quickly. He noted that a key challenge will be standardising interfaces between different modules, ensuring plug-and-play interoperability and keeping these interfaces up to date.

Building on this, Hólmfríður Elvarsdóttir highlighted how the shift from monolithic systems to open, cloud-enabled architectures support exactly this vision, enabling faster development cycles and bringing research closer to operations. She noted that projects such as AWARE already show the benefits of improved system compatibility, and stressed that supportive regulation, certification, and close collaboration between stakeholders will be essential to address challenges around maintenance, data integration, safety, and ensuring modules meet operational requirements.

The panel concluded with a shared vision of where European ATM could be in ten years. Across the discussion, speakers imagined a system in which ANSPs can access scalable services from multiple vendors, fully interoperable across Europe, enabling faster innovation and more agile responses to operational needs.

Hólmfríður described the possibilities as almost limitless, noting that the decisions and actions taken today will shape the ATM of tomorrow. Jorge illustrated this vision with a concrete example: in ten years, a young researcher finishing a tour at an ANSP could have an idea to prevent conflicts, work with an AI agent, send a solution to a manufacturer by the end of the day, and see a validated, industrialised, and certified prototype within weeks, ready for deployment before the next summer season - a process that could shrink today's innovation cycles from ten years to mere months.

Looking ahead, the panellists agreed that European ATM will be more resilient, flexible, and capable of addressing environmental challenges, making full use of Europe's innovation potential. They expect to look back with pride on how the system has evolved - both at national level and across the European network, enabling continuous operational improvements and a faster flow of innovation into practice.

This panel formed part of SESAR Innovation Days 2025. More about the event https://www.sesarju.eu/node/4954

More on industry support for the service delivery model:
https://www.sesarju.eu/servicedelivery

Read Andreas's blog on the service delivery model Outatime: the future of ATM belongs to those who evolve