# Airport Systems Fragmentation The single biggest structural problem in airport tech. An airport runs on 20+ disconnected system types, each built by a different vendor in a different era for a different stakeholder. Across the passenger journey alone: booking platforms, online check-in systems, departure control systems (DCS), common-use terminal equipment (CUTE), self-service check-in (CUSS), auto bag drop systems, flight information display systems (FIDS), lost and found bag tracking, automatic tag readers, conveyor control systems, baggage screening systems, automated border control, queue and crowd management, common-use passenger processing (CUPPS). Across the airside: A-CDM platforms, VDGS (Visual Docking Guidance Systems), A-SMGCS (Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control), ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast), local radar, departure sequencing systems, AMAN/DMAN (Arrival/Departure Manager), RFID tracking, smart camera and CCTV analytics, safety management systems, follow-the-greens taxiway lighting. Across cargo: transport and storage systems, scanner systems, customs administration, dangerous goods management. Each of these systems generates data that matters to someone else's decision. The baggage screening system knows about a delayed bag that affects the turnaround timeline. The queue management system knows about a security bottleneck that affects the boarding window. The A-SMGCS knows about taxiway congestion that affects the taxi-out estimate. But these systems don't talk to each other natively. The integration layer is where the real value sits. Historically, the [[Airport Operational Database]] served as the central integration point, but AODBs were designed for flight data, not for the full operational picture. The modern pattern is an Information Broker middleware that normalizes data from all sources into a single real-time operational model. Same concept as [[Knowledge Graphs for Industrial Data]] in process manufacturing: don't replace the source systems, contextualize them. This fragmentation is also why the deployment challenge for any new platform is so acute. Connecting to an airport's existing system landscape means integrating with a unique combination of legacy vendors, proprietary protocols, and custom interfaces. See [[Bespoke Engineering in Industrial AI]]. Related: [[Airport Operational Database]], [[Airport Operations MOC]], [[Knowledge Graphs for Industrial Data]], [[data gravity]] --- Tags: #deeptech #firstprinciple