Geneva, Switzerland – Skysoft-ATM, a major solution provider to the airport traffic management industry, today announced the availability of Albatross Display™ an advanced, flexible ATC radar display solution that is fully open-source under the GPL version 2 license. The solution is now readily available online.
Through this key initiative, Skysoft-ATM builds on its aim to facilitate the wider adoption of advanced ATM technologies to the broader industry, and materializes the first step of ATM solutions releases planned by the Albatross community in 2010. The Albatross project was launched in March 2009 to collaborate in the development of innovative ATM technologies, and make them openly available under open-source licenses.
“The Albatross Display project is derived from SkySoft-ATM’s operational solutions and now brings an open base for improved customization opportunities, user optimization, and significant cost savings,” said Pierre Henri Guisan, managing director at Skysoft-ATM. Skysoft-ATM will also produce an enterprise version based on Albatross Display, which will be tested, certified, and come with full professional support services. The enterprise version will become available later in Q1 2010.
Open Source software is known in the IT industry for its better quality, higher reliability, security, interoperability, lower entry cost, and its ability to end predatory vendor lock-in.
The Albatross community is in itself very active: more than 150 members have joined since the project’s launch, with around 70 representatives from various organizations registering and playing an active role in the Albatross Display project, even before it was on line. “The traction of open-source is moving at high speed, and other industrial partners have expressed their interest in this new mainstream trend,” said Nicolas Dalleinne, leader of the Albatross Display project at SkySoft-ATM.
While Skysoft-ATM will remain the key sponsor of the Albatross Open Source community project, it encourages and welcomes new contributors. All industry players are invited to join and contribute. The project is now live on the Albatross community website.