Schiphol Airport’s community information platform, Cargonaut, will be updated with investments from public and private sources.

Cargonaut, which has been operational since 1986, will receive investments of over $2 million, half of which will come in the form of grants from Topsector Logistics, an organization that seeks to promote advanced logistics practices in the Netherlands, and the other half from Dutch customs, Schiphol Group and Cargonaut itself.

The investment aims to strengthen the competitive position of Schiphol Airport, and therefore of all industry players at the airport together with the government.

Initially, Cargonaut focused on messaging between parties, but, over the years, it has been improving and speeding up the processes involved in the import and export of goods through Schiphol by support processes between parties, including government agencies.

“The world around us is changing at high speed, and the strong and innovative position of Schiphol can no longer be taken for granted,” said Nanne Onland, CEO of Cargonaut. “Strong cooperation, well managed processes, and maximum support from state-of-the-art IT resources are the keys to increase the competitiveness of Schiphol, and therefore of all stakeholders, including the government.”

Cargonaut recognizes that there are more and more IT vendors providing effective solutions for parties operating in air cargo. However, these applications need up-to-date information about shipments, transport and locations for smart airport handling, so they need a port community information platform that is safe and open, that can make available reliable, comprehensive and up-to-date information, and that allows companies and their IT providers to conduct their own development faster.

The European Union is also setting out requirements for customs processes, protocols and ICT systems. Recently the World Customs Organization data model and the new Air Single Window Government

Portal have been announced. The Dutch government itself wants to cooperate as closely as possible with the industry and its community information platforms, to ensure that processes are integrated and features and information are re-used.

The one-million dollar grant from Topsector Logistics was conditional on industry and government co-funding.

“All parties at Schiphol will reap the fruits,” said Onland. “With the help of a renewed Schiphol

community information platform, better and faster processes will be supported with modern tools.”