Aero Engine Round Table: “Blockchain – the future of engine & component history”

The NAG (in close cooperation with the DGTA) organises an Aero Engine Round Table on Wednesday May 8th 2019 from 13:00 – 17:00 hrs at Proponent in Alphen aan den Rijn with the theme “Blockchain – the future of engine & component history”.

Background 
Blockchain is most commonly associated with the financial sector, but there is also a huge, untapped market for the technology in commercial aviation. Blockchain is a distributed ledger or database running on many devices and open to anyone within the blockchain. Throughout an aero engine’s or component’s entire lifecycle, anyone who is in any way involved with this item (be it the OEM, the distributor, the engineer, or the maintenance technician) uploads information on what they have done, and it is added back into the blockchain for all stakeholders to see.

Purpose 
The purpose of the “Blockchain – the future of engine & component history” Round Table is to show applications within as well as outside the aerospace production / maintenance domain, and to discuss the potential of this technology in terms of providing an additional competitive advantage for companies. Subsequently, the participants are invited to assess blockchain applications within their own organisation and to jointly review the challenges to be overcome when facing implementation.

Presentations 
The following key-note speakers are providing presentations based on their company’s experience:

• Dirk Berlee (KLM E&M – Change Manager) “blockchain proof of concept for KLM componentservices”
• Benjamin Nieuwland (Proponent – Marketing Intelligence Officer) “A comparison of current aircraft parts related Blockchains”
• Arno Laeven (Consultant Blockchain) “4 years, 5 companies and 20 use cases in blockchain”

Despite the benefits of blockchain, there are still challenges to be overcome which are to be discussed during the round table session, such as:

• Technical challenges that arise from implementing blockchain;
• Business challenges around the contentious issue of data ownership and competitiveness;
• Knowledge challenges where not all players in the engine value chain may be early adopters.

There is no participation fee for this Aero Engine Round Table. This event is made possible by a topsector HTSM TKI grant.

Contactperson for this round table is: Dennis Mulder, +31 (0)88 1976 100 / dennis.mulder@nag.aero