Berlin, 5-9 June 2024: At the beginning of June, the “Internationale Luft- und Raumfahrtausstellung” (ILA) took place at the Berlin Airport in Schönefeld. This year’s theme was “Pioneering Aerospace”. Around 600 exhibitors from 31 nations showcased a wide range of high-tech products as well as research and development projects. The Gaia-X lighthouse project COOPERANTS was also represented at both the Northern Germany Chalet and the BMWK stand, presenting its promising developments.
The five days of ILA focused entirely on the future of aerospace, with central themes such as climate-neutral flying, flight safety and defense, and the benefits of space travel for humanity. The high level of public interest was evident in the quickly sold-out weekend tickets. In total, about 95,000 participants from around 60 nations attended the ILA.
For COOPERANTS, the ILA provided an ideal platform to showcase the project’s progress and innovations. By creating a shared data space for the aerospace industry, COOPERANTS enables barrier-free and secure exchange of heterogeneous data formats. This increases efficiency, reduces project costs, and minimizes risks. Supported by innovative smart services offered on a digital marketplace, collaboration within the industry is further enhanced.
At the BMWK stand, COOPERANTS presented the example service Holowork. This service is available on the GAIA-X marketplace and utilizes a browser-based, decentralized workflow editor to create step-by-step executable work instructions. These instructions can be executed decentrally on a PC, tablet, or through augmented reality. The system, qualified in aerospace, can also be used in other Gaia-X domains.
![Das COOPERANTS Konsortium präsentiert sich am BMWK-Stand mit der Smart Service-Anwendung „Holowork“ [v.l.n.r. Jan-Luca Kirchler (DLR), Dr.-Ing Birgit Suhr (DLR), Dr.-Ing Caroline Lange (DLR)].](https://cooperants.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/1000000025_reduced-1024x603.jpg)
Another highlight was the participation in the panel “Challenges and Opportunities of Digitalisation and AI in Aerospace – From Research into Product Application at ECOMAT Bremen”. After an introduction by moderator Daniel Reckzeh (Airbus Operations GmbH), the panelists presented their projects, including Dr.-Ing Caroline Lange (DLR and Consortium Management) with COOPERANTS, the Virtual Product House, and Aerospace-X. Discussions encompassed topics such as virtual aircraft certification, AI-supported simulation training for pilots, AI-enabled data enrichment, and intelligent manufacturing. It became evident that digitalization must be collectively advanced to create more efficient and optimized approaches. Platforms like ECOMAT and digital solutions developed within the framework of COOPERANTS and Aerospace-X offer ideal conditions for this purpose.
In addition to exciting air shows, the ILA provided a fruitful exchange on important topics related to digitalized aerospace. The COOPERANTS project was able to establish valuable contacts and gain new insights for the further development of the industry.
