Marcel Bakker took over the Director role of the iTEC Collaboration in May 2024 and in this short time, the staff grew and new Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) joined, including NAV CANADA, making the collaboration the first intercontinental one. In this interview, I asked him where iTEC stands, what the next steps are, and how member ANSPs profit from collaboration and how they are affected by common and individual challenges. I appreciated the open and honest answers, Marcel being very direct, as always.
Q: Looking back at 1.5 years at the head of iTEC, what went well, what was surprising?
I started in May 2024, at a pivotal moment when we were concluding the Definition phase of iTEC SkyNex and preparing to launch the Build phase. Having previously chaired the iTEC Steering Committee, I was already deeply familiar with the Collaboration, which made for a smooth transition into my new role.
The Definition phase, extended in part due to COVID, lasted over two years and laid a solid foundation for the Build phase. The necessary organisational structures and processes were well established. We started with a Core Team of four persons and have since grown into a dedicated, Air Navigation Services Provider (ANSP)-agnostic iTEC Team of 25 professionals, seconded by the member ANSPs and fully committed to the SkyNex Build Programme. In addition, the coordination with the iTEC ANSPs and decision making processes are supported by various coordination bodies and committees with representatives from these ANSPs.
I organised them in two teams. The “yellow” team works on the Collaboration, independently of the needs of each individual ANSP and the “green” team represents ANSP needs in the decision-making process.
So far, we’ve met our milestones, including the successful evaluation of the first software build. In my current role, I work closely with eight ANSPs on their system development and deployment programmes. This gives me a unique vantage point to understand both individual and shared challenges. While I anticipated some overlap, I was surprised by the extent to which these challenges are common across ANSPs. This reinforces my belief that collaboration through iTEC is not only beneficial for software development but also invaluable for sharing deployment strategies and lessons learned.
Q: What is the role of iTEC SkyNex with respect to the members and to Indra? Do you have authority over the members or are you more of a consensus facilitator?
The iTEC SkyNex Programme delivers the software that will replace the main ATC systems of the iTEC ANSPs. Indra, as the strategic supplier, is responsible for the development of this software. The ANSPs are, in a traditional sense, customers of Indra for the SkyNex development: each ANSP has a separate supply contract with Indra. iTEC is a virtual organisation, without a legal body. We considered it but the effort required to bring multiple ANSPs operating in different legal frameworks to the same legal position should not be underestimated.
The iTEC Team—composed of experts seconded by the ANSPs—manages the Programme on their behalf. Coordination and decision-making are governed by well-defined processes and a robust governance structure. Our approach is consensus-driven, with clear prioritisation guidelines based on the needs and deployment timelines of each ANSP. While I do not hold formal authority over the members, my role is to facilitate alignment, ensure transparency, and drive progress across the Collaboration.
The list of wishes often exceeds available capacity and funding and it takes a lot of time and effort to align all ANSPs on the choices of what will be implemented. We are progressing well on the functional front and also on the preparation of the new architecture, which will align with the New Service Delivery Model (NSDM).
Q: Some members have direct boundaries (e.g., Germany with Netherlands and Poland, Poland with Lithuania). Can they benefit more from iTEC compared to more isolated countries like Spain?
In the future, iTEC ANSPs with shared borders may indeed benefit from enhanced cross-border data exchange, which will naturally emerge as systems become more interoperable. However, the extent of these benefits for iTEC ANSPs without shared borders such as ENAIRE will depend on broader European developments in interoperability and the pace at which neighbouring ANSPs adopt these standards. Now, the inter-centre interoperability remains based on OLDI and our focus in this area is on improving inter-sector coordination within the same centre and of course supporting the European developments in this area.
Ultimately, our goal at the European level is to ensure that all ANSPs—regardless of geography—can benefit equally from the iTEC collaboration.
Q: Many ANSPs face staffing challenges, but capacity needs vary (e.g., +40% in some sectors in Southern Germany vs. +3.3% for DFS overall). Is facilitating ATCO mobility a goal of iTEC, internally and also between ANSPs?
The architecture of iTEC SkyNex is fully aligned with the New Service Delivery Model, which technically supports cross-border and cross-centre ATCO mobility. European projects such as DEVICE, iSNAP, and VITACY are already exploring and demonstrating elements of this concept using iTEC SkyNex technology.
While the technology lays the groundwork, significant steps will be needed in other areas, such as regulation, training, and operational harmonisation before ATCO mobility becomes a reality. I expect initial progress within individual ANSPs that operate multiple Area Control Centres (ACCs) with similar operations, before expanding to cross-ANSP mobility.
iTEC SkyNex will support such operations in the future as the new architecture will support this. The actual change in operations such as cross-centre ATCO mobility will continue to remain a responsibility of the individual ANSPs.
Q: One obstacle is tooling and working methods. A quick look at LVNL’s CWP vs. DFS’—or even between DFS centres—shows differences. Will iTEC harmonise this, or is the focus only on backend systems? What about working methods, which differ even deeper than HMIs?
This is a very valid observation and one of the key challenges ahead. Initially, we expect harmonisation efforts to be most visible within ANSPs that operate multiple ACCs. The iTEC SkyNex system is designed to support the diverse working methods and toolsets of all iTEC ANSPs.
While backend harmonisation is a primary focus, aligning working methods is ultimately a decision for the operation departments of the ANSPs. iTEC provides both the platform and the technology to support such alignment. For now, our priority is to ensure that the initial deployments at iTEC ACCs are manageable. Each ANSP can only absorb a certain level of operational and technical change at a time, so we are taking a phased and pragmatic approach.
Q: NAV CANADA is now a member, making iTEC the first intercontinental alliance. How do you manage the differences this brings in terms of culture, working methods, and geographical scale?
NAV CANADA’s entry into the Collaboration is a big milestone, both in scale and significance. With seven ACCs and a vast airspace, their participation underscores the strength and relevance of the iTEC approach.
Culturally, the integration has been smooth. The Canadian working culture aligns well with that of the existing members and adds positively to the collaboration. There are some obvious challenges because of the time difference, but other than that, working together works well.
Operationally, while we’ve identified some unique characteristics in Canadian airspace, they are not fundamentally different from challenges faced by other members. For example, the number of navigational aids and waypoints required us to increase some system limits.
The geographical scale and population density present specific technical challenges. Most of the Canadian population lives close to the US border and large areas in the north have little infrastructure. We need to enhance the system’s baseline capacity and support operations in areas with limited or no radar coverage. Developments in space-based infrastructure will help address some of these limitations, but they also introduce new requirements that iTEC SkyNex must support.
