ENAV has long been involved in Research and Innovation. It takes part in many projects aimed at defining and checking new operating concepts, technologies, systems and functions, to effectively manage constantly improving performance, in line with the increasingly stringent requirements of the Single European Sky.
The European air traffic control research activity is concentrated in the SESAR (Single European Sky ATM research) initiative.
In this scenario, ENAV's objective is not only to continuously improve its efficiency levels but also to raise Safety & Security levels as well as the overall service quality.
ENAV, in close coordination with the European Commission, SESAR JU, Clean Sky, EASA and EUROCONTROL/Network Manager, participates in multiple projects for research and development, experimentation, simulation and pre-operative validation of new technologies or procedures. Their aim is to improve performance of the European system of services to air navigation and to achieve significant results in matters of safety, efficiency and capacity.
The European Commission has launched the SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) R&D and the wider H2020 (Horizon 2020) European Framework Programmes with the purpose of encouraging and supporting these Community level efforts. Both these programmes are an incentive from the European Community to provide the Single Sky with technology to overcome national fragmentation and give synergy to all the European R&D efforts.
Another key success factor of this initiative is the commitment to synchronise the different Single Sky countries with the main industry actors that make up the ATM value chain (ANSP, airport managers, airlines, industry suppliers).
In order to ensure unity of intentions among such different stakeholders who traditionally operate according to national dynamics and scale, the European Commission has decided to coordinate the R&D activities outlined by the European ATM Master Plan (EATMP), also through the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU). The timely implementation of this plan will, to a great extent, determine the achievement of the long term objectives of the Single European Sky.