Under the vision of virtual centres, the currently fragmented structure would be decoupled and transitioned to the development of a new data service system where virtual Air Traffic Services Units (ATSUs) provide services to airspace users using a variety of ATM data services providers (ADSPs).

After the past projects such as SESAR 2020 PJ10.93 and SESAR2020 PJ.32 already validated the virtualized concept (TRL6 in a “Y” architecture context, TRL4 in a “U” architecture context), this solution aims to :
lift the last obstacles to start the deployment of the virtual centre technology using the “Y” architecture.
Validate the virtual centre technology using the “U” architecture.

The virtualised concept will be described and validated (including ATFM aspects brought to TRL6 maturity) for the following use cases : Night delegation, cross-border delegation, contingency and business continuity.
The solution addresses the following operational and technical aspects related to roles and responsibilities in the OPS room, LTM and NM actions, Material needed towards the deployment of the “Y” architecture, Regulatory and human factors barriers

Based on the developed operational scenarios, the solution will identify regulatory changes in existing regulations focusing in particular on some topics such as Oversight, responsibility and liability, Interoperability, ATCO licensing, Pricing/charging, Common requirements for certification Competition rules…

The approach related to standardization is depending on the type of architecture. While the Y-architecture already reached TRL6 maturity meaning that needs for change of existing standards are expected to be already described in the concerned EUROCAE Working groups (e.g. WG-122 or WG-104), the standardization needs for the U-architecture mostly concern the Interoperability between ADSPs for which the intermediate release of the STAND document concluded that considering the significant effort needed, this could constitute only a long-term goal and worthwhile as soon as more than one supplier is volunteering to envisage research and development for the U-architecture.

BENEFITS
• Controller productivity
• Cost efficiency
• Capacity