Airport Experience® News - Customer Service Issue 2024

INDUSTRY INNOVATORS

ENHANCING ACCESSIBILITY Challenge Winners Test New Technologies At MIA

BY JOHN QUINNIES

Levine Cava’s goals to enhance customer service in wayfinding and accessibility, according to MIA Director and CEO Ralph Cutié. For the last leg of the challenge, MDAD and MDIA tapped local community subject matter experts to help narrow the field through interviews and panels before selecting the three winners: Mapsted, Signapse and RouteMe . “We wanted to try to identify problems that were experienced by every airport so if the technology companies can prove out their value they can also look for opportunities to scale based off proof of concept here,” says MDIA President and CEO Leigh-Ann Buchanan. “The public sector can be a catalyst for commercializing technology that actually solves problems for the end-user and pressing public challenges. A win-win opportunity is created when you create cross-sector collaboration opportunities.” The MDIA looked at three key criteria in its vetting process: level of public concern, scalability, and private market viability, according to Buchanan. The organization also looked at pilot feasibility. Not every great solution may fit in with the scope of a pilot, Buchanan says. The non-profit took a multi-pronged analysis which included looking at product traction (or the potential for it), the track record of growth, the product itself, the team involved, and the overall stage of the company, she says. “If you want to get better solutions that are market ready, solutions deployed rapidly so you can prove better experiences and value to your end users…,you’ve got to partner with innovative collaborators like MDIA,” Buchanan says, noting that the organization’s position outside of government allowed it to fast-track the initiative.

acked by a public-private development model and a $100,000 investment each, the

Above: Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announces the winners of the Public Innovation Challenge at MIA.

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three winning tech startups to emerge from Miami International Airport’s (MIA) Public Innovation Challenge are now on a mission to prove their services are scalable improvements for passenger wayfinding, accessibility and customer experience at airports, project leaders say. The challenge attracted 136 proposals from 27 countries after opening in December 2023. The Miami-Dade Innovation Authority worked with the Miami-Dade Aviation Department to determine the key challenge goals and narrow down 12 finalists while aligning with Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella

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AX NEWS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2024