IATA’s ONE Record standard offers great potential for the digitalisation of air freight logistics. Important for the future: a neutral platform for the collaborative development of the standard. This is where the Open Logistics Foundation comes in. As a non-profit and commonbenefit organisation, it provides the infrastructure to actively promote the development of ONE Record as an open source solution. The Foundation’s overarching goal is not to implement ONE Record in many individual variants, but to create a standard solution for all air freight companies.
“A standard is not a business model,” emphasises Andreas Nettsträter, CEO of the Open Logistics Foundation. “Our work aims to establish ONE Record as an open standard that benefits everyone involved. That’s why we invite companies in the air freight industry to join the growing community.” While IATA unites the global air cargo community, the Foundation plays a central role as a facilitator of the concrete development steps. It brings together the proposals of the members, coordinates the exchange and accelerates the development of practical solutions. “The ONE Record standard is a decisive step for us to lift the digitalisation of the air freight industry onto a common open source framework and enable the smooth exchange of data,” explains Henk Mulder, Head of Digital Cargo at IATA.
One example of the success of collaborative approaches within the Open Logistics Foundation is the development of the electronic consignment note eCMR in the international transport sector. Companies such as Rhenus, Dachser, transporeon and iteratec and others worked together on a solution that is to become the standard. Instead of pursuing independent and inefficient approaches, a standardised open source solution was created – from the community for the entire industry.
Together for successful data exchange
The Open Logistics Foundation plays a central role in the further development and implementation of ONE Record and ensures that all players in the air freight industry find common ground. In cooperation with strong partners such as the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), the standard is constantly being advanced in order to promote the digitalisation of the industry in the long term. A key result of the cooperation between the Open Logistics Foundation and IATA is the open source NE:ONE server code. This serves as a data hub and is based on the IATA ONE Record Standard. The server was developed as part of the Digital Testbed Air Cargo (DTAC) research project funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport Affairs (BMDV), which is developing digital solutions for air freight. By becoming a member of the Open Logistics Foundation and participating in joint projects, companies can actively contribute to the further development of ONE Record at a low cost.
