Brussels Airport has launched its first application using blockchain technology, marking the next step in the Landsite Management tool it is developing with stakeholders at BRUcargo.
The app will closely cooperate with existing apps such as the Slot Booking App, or future apps yet to be developed.
The focus of the next phase is to make the import process paperless, more efficient and transparent, contributing to Brussels’ strategic objective to have a digitalised logistical flow in place supported by a combination of applications offered via the BRUcloud platform.
Compared to other cargo community systems, the BRUcloud’s main priority is not digitising the existing messages and communication between the different actors but making data sharing in a cloud environment possible.
Brussels Airport cargo business development manager, Sara Van Gelder says: “It enables the different stakeholders of the air cargo supply chain to work more “integrated” and act as a network. Data will be stored only once, centrally. Once a company is connected to the cloud, it can start using the different existing applications and can start exchanging information very easily with other stakeholders instead of maintaining system-to-system connections with all different partners individually.”
Brussels Airport head of cargo and logistics, Steven Polmans who is also chairman of Air Cargo Belgium adds: “The new Freight Management App 1.0 will replace the handover of cargo from handlers to forwarder from a paper-based process by a digital rights / release process. The support of all our stakeholders, from gathering ideas to implementing new tools and applications, is crucial in the success of our BRUcloud platform.”
One of the companies supporting BRUcloud is DHL Global Forwarding, with chief executive officer for Belgium and Luxembourg, Luc Jacobs saying: “DHL Global Forwarding is pro-actively seeking supply chain visibility and transparency tools and improvement areas, in order to facilitate the supply chain of our customers.
“We firmly believe that an increasing transparency and reliability will decrease the overall supply chain costs in the future. We support initiatives as the community platform BRUcloud, to support the industry in creating innovative tools to improve the logistic chain.”
Ground handler WFS has also supported the programme, with regional vice president Marc Claesen commenting: “For WFS, this is the way forward in a rapidly changing industry, whereby expectations from stakeholders will only be met in the future by those companies who believe in modernisation and industry data sharing. We are glad to be an early adaptor of this unique tool and platform and believe that this is only the start of a very promising development whereby the cargo industry as a whole will benefit, with Brussels taking a leading pioneer role.”
