SITA, the technology provider for the air transport industry, has announced the launch of the Aviation Blockchain Sandbox.

The company has been actively involved in blockchain space. Back in 2016, it collaborated with ShoCard to explore blockchain technology for digital identity management that stores travelers ID details. Last year, SITA announced the results of FlightChain – a research conducted with British Airways, Heathrow, Geneva Airport and Miami International Airport into ‘smart contracts’ residing on a blockchain.

The sandbox will be led and managed by SITA Lab, SITA’s technology research team, and will develop in three stages:

• The first stage will see the opening of the FlightChain project to airlines and airports in September.
• In the second stage, SITA will work with organizations that wish to test smart contracts across a number of airline and airport operational use cases.
• During the third stage, expected to start in late 2018, SITA will enable participants to run their own node, which would enable organizations to become more involved and to participate in the running of the network, including becoming custodians.

SITA assured that throughout all stages the data used in the blockchain sandbox will be stored confidentially. The company is inviting various stakeholders to join the initiative. Over 100 top IT executives, attending SITA’s Customer Innovation Forum, were the first to be invited to join the sandbox.

“Since we published the results of the FlightChain research, many of our airline and airport customers have expressed an interest in exploring the opportunities of blockchain with us and some have already committed to the Aviation Blockchain Sandbox,” Barbara Dalibard, CEO, SITA, said. “We encourage airlines, airports, ground handlers, governments and other organizations with a role in the air transport industry to take advantage of this opportunity to innovate together.”