FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub members-only event in Dublin – 11 June 2024

The FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub members, including international airlines, airports, investors, and vendors, attended an engaging event hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Enterprise Ireland at the Amazon Ireland – DUB19 offices in Dublin on 11 June 2024. The event – held alongside the co-located FTE EMEA and FTE Ancillary & Retailing events – focused on the very latest technologies and trends, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), key themes for the FTE Hub in 2024.

The session opened with welcome addresses from Ryan Ghee, COO of Future Travel Experience; Kevin Kleist, Head of Emerging Trends at Southwest Airlines and Head of Digitalisation, Innovation & Startup Engagement at Future Travel Experience; David McAvinue, Senior Account Manager at AWS; and Niall Diffley, Development Advisor at Enterprise Ireland.

Bob Kwik, Worldwide Head of Airports and Ground Transportation at AWS, delivered the keynote, discussing AWS’ role in digital transformation for airlines and airports through data adoption, digital twins, autonomous operations, generative AI, and more. Presentations followed from Colin O’Brien, Head of QA & Change Control at Ryanair Labs; James von der Fecht, Technology Product Director at Manchester Airports Group (MAG); and Alan Kiernan, CTO and Co-founder of Parly by Cation Consulting.

The event also featured two startup pitch sessions with ten high-potential startups, including Fairlyne, Ostrum, Tao Climate, Travpal, FLOX Robotics, Frequency, MOST, PRM Assist, CloudCards, and Snapfix. The networking opportunities were abundant, highlighted by the end-of-day networking drinks sponsored by AWS at an authentic Irish pub.

Read the full report on the co-located FTE EMEA and FTE Ancillary & Retailing events here.