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Vancouver International Airport Authority fires up technology and transforms itself from a sluggish government-run airport to an international hub.
A little more than two years ago, Kevin Molloy, CIO at the Vancouver International Airport Authority, wanted to speed up the airline check-in process by introducing self-service kiosks for passengers.
He asked one of his business colleagues how many kiosks he thought the airport needed. The answer: two kiosks for business-class travelers without luggage.
Molloy ordered 80 kiosks instead.
Why so many? his colleague wondered.
"We're going to evolve your thinking," Molloy replied.
Molloy knows a bit about the survival of the fittest. Fifteen years ago, the government ran Vancouver International Airport (YVR), whose IT infrastructure consisted of 20 PCs, and Canada's two government-owned airlines enjoyed duopolistic control of the facilities. But today the authority is a nonprofit, privately run organization that oversees the equivalent of a midsized city. During the peak summer season, 60,000 people a day move through the airport, the second largest in Canada. The authority ensures that their baggage goes with them -- and that they are safe and secure while passing through. The authority also deals with U.S. customs and immigration, some 400 businesses that cater to the airport community, and environmental and regional traffic issues. All of which requires the authority to balance relationships between two countries, six government agencies and 29 airlines from around the world.
"We're essentially a municipality," Molloy says. "We do everything a municipality does. We're the glue -- the middleware -- that makes this place work."
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