Sustainable storage systems. Greening air transportation blockchain technology.

Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) services.ICT technology provides a method of recording and transferring data in a transparent, trusted and verifiable way. Fujifilm released the results of a global environmental awareness survey named "Awareness Survey on Environmental Issues in the Digital Domain," that found that while the majority (83%) of respondents cite ICT services and equipment as a sustainability priority, more than one-third (38%) of U.S. business leaders are either unaware or unsure of how inefficient data storage can negatively impact the environment. When asked what barriers exist for those who have not considered more eco-friendly data storage options, globally more than one-third (34%) and 31% in the U.S. cited a lack of awareness or understanding of the issue. According to a IDC whitepaper, there were 500,000 data centers in the world in 2012, handling most of the world's global internet traffic. With the advent of the Internet of Things and Blockchain that has grown to more than eight million today. The number and size of ICT facilities is only expected to continue to grow as more and more Internet of Things products come online and blockchain technology integrates into the global supply chain. "The need for large-scale data storage is on the rise and is expected to reach more than 11 trillion gigabytes) by 2025," according to the whitepaper by IDC. As demand rises, so too does the need for energy efficient data storage. The environmental impact of the energy required to support this volume of storage is vastly underestimated, as are the subsequent carbon emissions.

Environmental downside.Data center emissions generated from data mining machines are on a par with those of commercial aircraft emissions. They account for about 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Data center energy consumption is very high. The data mining machines compete with cheap energy with other industries. Data centers energy consumption will increase by a factor of three between 2016 and 2025. They already account for more terawatt hours of electricity used than all of the UK. Data center operators placed very little importance on sustainability until very recently ranking its importance below security, operating costs, and energy. The effects data centers have on the environment are broad including:1. Heavy use of lower cost energy.2. The wasteful use of batteries.3. Coolants are harmful to the ozone, and potential fire risks.Civil Society Groups (CSG) are demanding that Data centers adopt clean and efficient way to eliminate the risk from contributing to global warming.

Trust based data transactions, information & value.Blockchain technology is used to manage the flow of information and the movement of value through digital channels. The goals of blockchain technology are to: 1. Remove the need for third parties and enable trust-less peer-to-peer transactions. 2. Reduce the blockchain operating costs for companies and the fees for the end-users. 3. To completely remove the need for intermediaries in most industries. There are an estimated 10,000 blockchain networks in use today. Most are either public or private.They functions in ways similar to the way a road vehicle uses digital information to get from the point of origin on a road to the destination. It is a disruptive technology. It decouples the trust element from the buy/sell transaction. It has the capacity to disrupt any industry that involves: 1. Data. 2. Transactions. 3. Trust. The disruption is greates in economic sectors with intermediaries that monetizes trust such as banks and government agencies. "Unbanked" & "banked" financial system. The financial system can now transact business for users who do not have access to the global banking system on an efficient or cost effective basis; those referred to as the “unbanked." It can instill confidence in buyers and sellers when it is transparent for the “banked” party as well. Banks have begun reporting that they are developing their own blockchain solutions with the objective of making their financial transactions faster, more secure.

Blockchain is a data transfer system. Blockchain has become another tool for conducting commercial transactions. The underlying technology was invented in 2009. The creators were advocating for individual autonomy within the global financial system in response to the 2007/08 financial crisis that highlighted the inefficiencies of centralized banking institutions. They designed the system to be secure, transparent and democratic; as a pier-to-pier network, powered by open source software for any party to engage in a data transfer system. Bitcoin digital currency. Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency created by an unknown person or group of people under the name Satoshi Nakamoto and released as open-source software in 2009. It does not rely on a central server to process transactions or store funds. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/BitcoinCloud vs. pier-to-pier storage systems.Cloud storage systems are built to warehouse large centralized databases for long periods of time. This leaves data vulnerable to privacy breaches and the potential for environmental catastrophe. Blockchains are pier-to-pier networks. They make data safer by removing failure based on trust. They offer cost-effective storage options. Blockchain creates more cost-effective storage options.

Upscaling.As is the case with green energy, the challenge is upscaling the blockchain across the aviation industry. Leveraging the benefits is a function of inventing solutions for specific products and services, developed, tested, approved and implemented, based on the costs and benefits compared to alternative solutions.

How are new blocks built and validated?Each block within a blockchain holds some data. In the case of Bitcoin, data is a series of transactions. That data is organized in a single digital folder. This folder - the block in this case - is confirmed by a miner, who adds it to the previous block in the blockchain. New blocks of transactions are written into Bitcoin’s blockchain every few minutes. This is called “mining” blocks. This action links the new blocks to the already existing chain of blocks. Currency risk.Double-spending is a potential problem unique to digital currencies because digital information can be reproduced relatively easily.https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/doublespending.asp

Global Distribution System (GDS) & Central reservation system (CRS).

In a Fujifilm survey manufacturing (21%) and supply chain/transportation (21%) were perceived as the business areas that contributed the most to carbon emissions, versus 12% for data storage/management. There was also a knowledge gap pertaining to frequently accessed “hot” data and less frequently accessed “cold” data. In case of central reservation systems (CRS) passenger data is owned by the carrier. Some of the Full Service Carriers (FSC) have been storing CRS data since the 1960s. A GDS/CRS is a computerized system used for storing and obtaining information and conducting transactions related to services industries such as air travel, hotels, car rental, and other activities. Customers use CRS for booking status and cancellation status through the web. One of the effective methods used by the airline and hotel reservation system for retaining client is pushing the relevant content to them through mapping the hotels, cities and countries with the help of a one stop shop in your home page. Clients always prefer dealing with real business. When you integrate the Google map street views with the hotel reservation system, will enable the client to locate the business with ease. Google map also helps you in getting connected to clients who prefer to deal face to face. It provides assistance to the hotel managers in marketing and sales on the internet. This also create a better system of uploading the rates, availability of the rooms which makes it easier for different channels using CRS to know the actual position of the hotel. In the conventional system, the sales channel meant to be the travel agents but the modern definition of sales channel is different. In online distribution channels, there are numerous travel agencies and other websites which facilitates the reservation to hotels. It makes the hotels more accessible and reachable by both, the conventional travel agents and online travel agents or travel websites (Hotelogix, Major CRS operations are used for booking and selling tickets for various airlines are known as Global Distribution System (GDS). Airlines have divested most of their direct holdings to dedicated GDS companies (The Economist, 2012), who make their systems accessible to consumers through Internet gateways. Reservation system software must be connected with the central inventory system to provide pricing to global customer bases. In airline reservation systems, central inventory management is practiced whereby reservations deplete available seats as they are processed. Even in these systems, variances between PMS-Ievel inventory and the central system continue to exist. This is because most airlines are complex combinations of ownership, franchises, and management. In the case of hotels properties may be wholly owned by the hotel corporation and managed by another company under a franchise relationship within one hotel group Central server transactions. The CRS central server for transactions is one in which the hub server receives the digital buy/sell transaction information, from the nodes used by the parties to the transaction. The central server processes the informartion as agent for the transacting parties, and distributes the processed information to the seller and buyer. Blockchain technology applications in the air transportation industry are entering a maturing phase in which the benefits and opportunities are begining to emerge on a small scale. As use categories increase the block chain designers will develop robust application for smart contracts, certification, digital identification, trace & record keeping and tokenization. Blockchain technology provides some business solutions that over time will expand as the technology is adopted by airlines, airports, MROs, bank, investors, lessors and regulators.Centralized vs. decentralized infrastructure.Blockchain platforms are either centralized or decentralized, and the choice of the Blockchain type is strongly dependent on the use case and the associated requirements. Every variation of this technology has its advantages and disadvantages. Decentralized platforms have certain challenges that are covered in this paper, such as scalability. On the other hand, centralized models also have certain drawbacks. Blockchain infrastructure consists of networks of computers, called nodes, that can be located anywhere in the world. Blockchain tecnnology eliminates the need for a central server (hub) on a network operated, managed and controlled by a regulated agent or bank. A disadvantage a central point of data collection is that it poses a security risk, your information no longer belongs to you, a company now owns it. What they do with it is their prerogative. The adoption of blockchain technology will remove the need for third parties and will allow trust-less peer-to-peer transactions. In the worst-case scenario, it will reduce the costs for companies and the fees for the end-users of a trust-based service. In the best scenario, it will completely remove the need for intermediaries in most industries.The central server for transactions is one in which the hub server receives the digital buy/sell transaction information, from the nodes used by the parties to the transaction. The central server processes the informartion as agent for the transacting parties, and distributes the processed information to the seller and buyer. Technical Benefits of Blockchain: An Overview. The World Economic Forum (WEF) describes blockchain as a transfer system that is fully transparent, democratic, and secure. It is viewed as a method of recording and transferring data in a transparent, trusted and verifiable way. It also allows trust-less storage and transactions. Blockchain netwoks remove the need for intermediaries. Blockchain advanced ledgers. Blockchain can record data in four types of record called Advanced Ledgers. The classification starts with whether the chain can be accessed by the public, and on a lower level, whether the chain can be validated with (i.e. permissioned) or without (e.g. permissionless) permission. Aviation.The IATA analysis is that: "the commercial aviation industry is a highly complex space, where a large of number of entities are involved in the delivery of travel products and services, which is sometimes manifested in a single product from a customer perspective. These actors are often collaborating and partnering to be able to co-deliver value and meet the expectation of customers. From the moment passengers search online for an air ticket to the time they arrive at their destination, the airline is just one of around 26 business partners involved in the aviation chain."Frequent Flyer Points.Blockchain has the capability to significantly streamline the earning, spending, accounting and reconciliation of frequent flyer points by tokenizing these assets into becoming digital and pervasive. While the continuous rise of passenger load factors27 is good news, it makes it more difficult for airlines to facilitate the redeeming of points for tickets. In addition to the balance sheet liability issue, the process of earning, redeeming and exchanging points is ripe for innovation, in particular across alliances. Baggage, Cargo and Spare Parts.Blockchain facilitates tracking of the status and location of valuable assets such as passenger bags, cargo and aircraft spare parts in a very reliable and immutable manner as these assets change custody.This provides an opportunity to enhance visibility and transparency as these type of items move across the value chain. These new capabilities could potentially unlock new product development areas, support the streamlining of the process and equip the providers to deal with disruptions. Distribution and Payment.Blockchain allows airlines, travel agents, and others across the distribution space to better collaborate while co-delivering travel products and services. The anticipated changes could expand the distribution reach of all parties involved, and increase the efficiency of how travel products and services are aggregated. It also has the capability to move payment towards being more transparent, real-time and low-cost.Passenger and Crew Identity Management.Blockchain could streamline the identity management of passengers, enhancing the experience, protecting privacy, and also enabling airlines and the wider value chain to do business in digital environments.Smart Contracts across the Travel Value Chain.Airlines and other actors across the value chain trade products and services and spend significant efforts on contracts, execution of contracts, monitoring the fulfillment stage, reconciliation, invoicing and settlement. All these efforts can either be eliminated or considerably simplified leveraging the concept of Smart Contracts. Smart Contracts could be programmed to be self-executable, triggered by neutral data sources and pre-defined conditions. Eliminates the banking intermediary. One computer used to buy a product gives access to the second computer being used to sell it and the blockchain software completes the transaction in accordance with the instructions written into the blockchain program, thus eliminating the requirement and cost for a financial institution intermediary. Open source software is used in public blockchain network. is used by everyone participating in a public network operated on a global basis. Anyone can join the network. Private blockchain networks use proprietary software, hosted on private servers. Companies such as Airbus, Boeing, Collins and Honeywell are developing their own blockchains to track supply-chain logistics. Monitization of trust.In a centralized data collection network, the data provider gives information to the processing company that them make money from selling aggregated information. The provided relies on trust that the information will not be misused. Some of the major aggrigation sources include:Merchants and customers data is monitized by the credit card processor based on trust.Seller and customer data provided to online sellers who aggregate and monitize the data. Travellersr provide data to cab companies, railoads, trucking companies, shippers and airlines that warehouse the date for many decades and use it to profile customer preferences and pricing behaviour. How blockchain works - blocks?A blockchain is a data base stored digitally in a chain of blocks. The information stored in a block records a series of transactions taking place within a certain timeframe. Combined together, blocks constitute a blockchain. The blockchain witnesses all the transactions that occurred in the database.How blockchain works - miners.The term “miner” is ever-evolving and each blockchain has unique specifications for the term broadly defined as an individual or companies running special software to build onto the blockchain. The miners operate the network. Rewards are given to the computer node that finds the next block in a public and open-source chain.