The ICAO System Wide Information Management (SWIM) is an important component of modern air traffic management (ATM) systems aimed at enhancing the exchange and accessibility of accurate and timely information in the aviation industry. Traditionally, ATM systems have relied on custom communication protocols and self-contained information systems, resulting in individual and costly management and maintenance of interfaces.
SWIM seeks to revolutionize this by promoting machine-to-machine communication, improving data distribution, and ensuring the quality of exchanged data. It consists of standards, infrastructure, and governance to enable the efficient management and exchange of Air Navigation Services (ANS)-related information among qualified parties using interoperable services. SWIM aligns with the Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP) and plays a vital role in achieving information-based ATM integration. Regional task forces, such as the APAC SWIM Task Force, work on implementing SWIM regionally in accordance with ICAO’s global strategy, emphasizing common governance to support SWIM implementation within geographical areas.
The Asia/Pacific region has adopted a timeframe of 2024 to 2030 for implementing the Asia/Pacific SWIM, with 2030 being the target completion year. To achieve this goal, regional collaboration is underway to establish capabilities for the first version of Asia/Pacific regional SWIM. ICAO APAC Office organised two critical events in the first half of 2024 to support APAC member states in pioneering SWIM Implementation.
The ICAO APAC SWIM seminar was held on 12 May 2024 on Building Asia/Pacific Regional SWIM: The Journey to Version One. The seminar featured key players sharing their experiences selecting implementation options and business models for their SWIM technical infrastructure and information services. Lessons learned from acquiring technical solutions to address operational use cases were shared by the speakers.
In addition, the SWIM TF/9 meeting held from 13 – 17 May 2024 in the ICAO APAC Office in Bangkok, Thailand, deliberated various requirements for SWIM implementation in the APAC region to ensure the interoperability between SWIM-capable entities and non-SWIM-capable ones. The Meeting discussed the APAC regional roadmap for SWIM implementation roadmap, a high-level APAC regional SWIM architecture, the APAC regional SWIM governance framework, the APAC regional common SWIM information services, and, importantly, the implementation approach to establish the APAC regional SWIM. The Meeting formulated a strategy for drafting the first version of the Asia/Pacific Regional SWIM Implementation Guidance Document (IGD) and took updates from the SWIM Implementation Pioneer Ad-Hoc Group (SIPG) and Joint SWIM-over-CRV Demonstration and Surveillance Data Sharing in SWIM Technical Trial.
For more information on both SWIM-related activities, please click here.
