Improved impact starts with coordinated assessment

Using a comprehensive framework, the PEARL project is helping to assess the performance and improve the impact of SESAR Solutions.

The SESAR research and innovation programme is developing and delivering a pipeline of innovative operational procedures and technologies.

But these solutions alone won't deliver the Digital European Sky. They must also be ready to perform.

Ensuring that performance is the PEARL project.

The project is dedicated to assessing each and every SESAR solution and research outcome, ensuring its alignment with the overall performance ambitions of the European ATM Master Plan.

"We aim to provide a clear analytical and detailed view of the performance benefits that SESAR solutions bring when deployed together, as well as identify those areas where significant gaps exist with respect to performance ambitions," says PEARL project coordinator José-Manuel Cordero, CRIDA

A framework for assessing the performance impact of all SESAR solutions

At the heart of the project is the SESAR performance framework, a common reference for assessing all SESAR Solutions. The framework provides a set of key performance indictors (KPIs) for evaluating a solution's impact - whether that impact be positive or negative - and for benchmarking its benefits and identifying areas for improvement.

"Projects can use this framework to assess performance in a coherent and meaningful manner, support decision-making, and understand how their solution supports the Digital European Sky," explains Cordero.

The PEARL project is charged with maintaining the framework, a task that involves updating it in line with evolving needs. For instance, the framework may be enhanced following its use by a specific solution. It has also seen its scope expanded to include such multimodality solutions as SIGN-AIR and TravelWise, along with U-space related projects like SPATIO, ENSURE and SAFIR-Ready.

"As the SESAR programme evolves, so too does the performance framework," notes Cordero. "Our job is to ensure that all funded solutions can use the framework to properlyassess their impact and then map that impact against the performance ambitions of the ATM Master Plan."

The project also launched a dedicated community of practice where SESAR-supported research initiatives can share best practices and participate in performance-focused training in areas like safety and security. "This is by far the most ambitious and exhaustive training programme relating to performance ever seen within the SESAR Joint Undertaking," notes Cordero.

A comprehensive view of SESAR research and innovation

Based on the assessments gathered across all SESAR solutions, PEARL is compiling a performance assessment and gap analysis report. The report will consolidate the results of all available solutions, providing a comprehensive view of how SESAR research and innovation is helping achieve the performance ambitions expressed in the ATM Master Plan.

Cordero is confident this report will prove invaluable to decisionmakers at the programme level and at the European Commission. "With this information, they can make informed decisions on which solutions to invest in, as well as identify those areas where solutions are lacking," he says.

Unlocking improvement through assessment

The PEARL project has delivered the tools needed to capture the performance impact that a solution brings to the ATM system.

"Assessment unlocks improvement, and the PEARL project provides the key," concludes Cordero.

To ensure credibility, all the project's assessments, analysis and reports are rigorous, independent and transparent and follow a purely fact- and data-based approach that includes multiple and complementary views.