Qatar Airways Cargo, IATA conclude One Record hackathon in Qatar

Qatar Airways Cargo and International Air Transport Association (IATA) concluded the first-ever One Record hackathon in Doha, Qatar on November 26.

As many as 17 teams from around the world came together for a 28-hour competition to submit highly sophisticated and innovative solutions surrounding the IATA ONE Record data sharing standard to showcase use cases that will help shape air cargo, says a release from Qatar Cargo.

"Six core challenges were given to developers to deep dive into the aviation environment and find solutions for the cargo industry including AI-powered tools, enhancing safety and compliance measures in operations and pre-validation on documentation to expedite processes."

The solutions were presented to a jury, and the following projects were announced as winners:

Qatar Airways Cargo Prize for team CheckSync by Swissport, Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Industry Solutions improves cargo check processes with AI, utilising ONE Record for accuracy and efficiency.

ONE Record Prize for team NE:ONE automate by Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Industry Solutions and Fraunhofer automates ONE Record digital cargo change requests, enhancing efficiency and customer experience with AI and a user-friendly interface.

Cargo iQ Prize for team OnePiece by Turkish Cargo, inspired by Turkey's 2023 earthquake, focuses on efficient, individual piece level cargo management for better response and communication.

Developer Prize for team OneAI by Unisys, leverages generative AI for air cargo booking compliance, streamlining pet shipment processes with AI and IATA regulations.

AWS Prize for team QPay by Awery, a quick book and pay tool, integrates various payment methods with ONE Record, using Qatar Airways API to enhance airline revenue, customer experience, and transparency.

"We were happy to welcome so many vibrant and innovative minds from around the world to Doha this weekend and to see some amazing creativity and bespoke cargo solutions created," says Elisabeth Oudkerk, Senior Vice President, Sales & Network Planning, Qatar Airways Cargo. “Being at the forefront of technology, we continuously invest in innovation and digitalisation, it is a core pillar as a part of our Vision 2027 Strategy, so we thrive on being able to be a part of such engaging events."

Brendan Sullivan, Global Head, Cargo, IATA adds: “The ONE Record hackathon showcases the ingenuity within our industry and underscores the importance of collaborative innovation. These events are crucial for advancing the IATA ONE Record programme, harnessing a global community's talent to drive digital transformation, and set new benchmarks for efficiency and sustainability in air cargo.”

IATA's hackathon programme was launched in 2015, initially focusing on airlines’ retailing capabilities. The scope has since evolved to address other areas including environment, payment, cargo and accessibility, the release added.