As the air cargo industry focuses on preparing the supply chain for COVID-19 vaccines, some of the key elements are the visibility and traceability of these temperature-sensitive products: billions of doses will be shipped worldwide and the time to market is critical for public health and the fight against the pandemic. Therefore, both pharmaceutical companies and public health authorities must ensure that these vaccines are delivered on time and in the right conditions, i.e. that the vaccines have not been exposed to temperature excursions throughout the journey and that the doses can be safely administrated to patients.
To prevent this problem, shippers are expected to increase their use of IoT devices, such as cargo tracking devices and data loggers. While these devices can address shippers’ challenges and the need for greater visibility and traceability, they also pose several challenges for air carriers:
Following a period of as-is analyses, brainstorming sessions, and reviews, two recommended practices on the approval of the use of portable electronic devices for air cargo and on IoT device data sharing in air cargo were developed and will be presented end of 2020 to the Cargo Services Conference (CSC) for its endorsement.
Based on this set of standards developed by the Interactive Cargo Task Force, IATA, hand in hand with industry, is now ready to launch the Interactive Cargo pilot projects and calls for participation. The pilots will be the focus of the Task Force for 2021, as feedback from the industry is essential to validate and implement the standards. In parallel, IATA will develop the amendment to the conditions of carriage on the Data Use Agreement.
We invite you to join us to make the cargo talk! As a strategic partner, you will be able to participate in working group meetings and project reviews, take part in the development of new standards, be informed of IATA’s recommendations before they are released and have the opportunity to network with airlines and IATA digital air cargo specialists. Contact us for more information at interactivecargo@iata.org.
Sonia Ben Hamida
Project Manager Interactive Cargo