Skysoft-ATM, a major solution provider to the airport traffic management (ATM) industry, recently announced the launch of the Albatross open source community project, based at www.albatross.aero.

The company also announced a commitment to contribute leading technologies to the project. The first of these is the Albatross Display - an advanced, flexible air traffic control radar display solution made available to the Albatross community under a GPL licence.

The initiative reflects a growing demand for open source software solutions within the public sector. A study aiming to assess benefits that the model can bring to ATM is proceeding at EUROCONTROL, the European organization for the safety of air navigation.

The company will also produce an enterprise version based on Albatross Display, which will be tested, certified, and come with full professional support services. This version will become available later in 2009.

Skysoft-ATM aims to encourage a new era of cooperation of ATM users, manufacturers, developers, regulators and academics to contribute to more open and cost-efficient ATM solutions, for a more secure airspace and to better service the global airport sector.

The project is now live on the Albatross Community website. To get involved or learn more about the Albatross community project, visit: www.albatross.aero. Contributor agreements are available on the site, as well as a forum to start sharing ideas, topics and other project initiatives.

A white paper: "It is in the DNA": How to induce change and innovation in the ATM industry is available at www.albatross.aero/resources/white-papers/index.php (registration required).