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ELECTRIC ‘ AIR TAXIS ’ ONE STEP CLOSER AS NODE4 SET TO SUPPORT SKYPORTS INFRASTRUCTURE
Once the stuff of science fiction , passenger-carrying electric urban air taxis could soon be a reality in major cities across the world . This revolutionary form of transport is one step nearer to reality after Skyports Infrastructure , a leading provider of vertiports for the advanced air mobility ( AAM ) industry , commissioned Node4 to deliver the underlying IT network components and data analysis capabilities needed for vertiport operations .
Under the terms of the agreement , Node4 , a cloud-led Digital Transformation managed services provider ( MSP ), will support Skyports Infrastructure by building a global SD-WAN capability . Due to go live at its first UK location later this year , SD-WAN will eventually cover further UK sites and extend to other Skyports Infrastructure facilities in the USA , Dubai and France .
Ultimately , SD-WAN will also provide the enabling technology and connectivity for Skyports Infrastructure ’ s global vertiport operations – supporting safe and efficient integration of electrical vertical take-off and landing ( eVTOL ) aircraft and ground infrastructure .
Adopting SD-WAN will reduce time to deployment at each of Skyports Infrastructure ’ s vertiport facilities while centralising and streamlining remote operations – allowing the company to monitor and manage a network of vertiports in near real-time while maintaining a cost-effective , lean and agile IT team . Once operational , SD- WAN will deliver consistent availability and performance , as well as centralised management and strong network security .
“ Everyone at Node4 is so easy to work with ,” said Dan Lambeth , Site Reliability Engineer at Skyports Infrastructure . “ The team are approachable and flexible – always offering to go above and beyond for us . Node4 also provides invaluable guidance to build Skyports Infrastructure ’ s in-house expertise .
“ We have a long technology journey ahead of us , but with the support of key technology partners such as Node4 and the insight they provide , the journey will be smooth . Looking to the next 12 to 24 months of technology development , we ’ re in an excellent position to continue at pace with our vertiport technology product .”
Skyports Infrastructure ’ s IT team are also drawing on Node4 ’ s extensive cloudbased knowledge – and Node4 has already helped Skyports Infrastructure build and configure several Azure landing zones to support the development of bespoke vertiport IT systems and software . They will also enable the development of the APIs needed to allow vertiport partners and operators to connect , collaborate and share data easily . Node4 is also supporting Skyports Infrastructure with a large-scale , cloud-based data warehousing project that ’ s designed to store , capture and facilitate analysis of aircraft telemetry and journey data , including weather and optimal route information .
“ We ’ re delighted to be playing a pivotal role in helping Skyports Infrastructure realise its mission of making electric air taxi travel a reality and supporting the development and operation of its vertiports ,” said Iain Shearman , Chief Commercial Officer , Node4 . “ Network infrastructure solutions , in combination with our Azure and Database experience , have the potential to bring about such a reimagining of urban travel . I can ’ t wait to see how this project develops and , who knows , to take one of the first eVTOL flights from a Skyports Infrastructure vertiport in the not too distant future .” x
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