The IATA World Cargo Symposium (WCS) will feature specialized topics on digitalization, sustainability and safety.
"Air cargo is an unsung hero of the global economy. In normal times, it delivers about 35% of the value of goods traded across borders. During the pandemic, air cargo brought medical supplies and vaccines to where they were needed And today it is providing a vital transportation alternative for some goods as Red Sea shipping routes face geopolitical uncertainty. Air cargo success matters. When global air cargo leaders gather in Hong Kong for Symposium IATA Global Cargo, ensuring the future reliability and growth of this critical sector will be a priority with an agenda focused on sustainability, digitalization and safety," said Brendan Sullivan, IATA Global Director of Cargo.
Speakers and sessions
Ronald Lam, CEO of Cathay Group, Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA, and Marie Owens Thomsen, Senior Vice President of Sustainability and Chief Economist of IATA, will join Sullivan to set the stage for the conference with opening speeches. They will be followed by key air cargo experts including:
Tom Owen, Director of Cargo, Cathay Pacific
Michael Steen, CEO Atlas Air
Vivian Lau, CEO Jardine Aviation Services Group
Kirsten de Bruijn, Executive Vice President Cargo, WestJet
Marco Bloeman, CEO Accenture and Head of Accenture Cargo
El The event's overarching theme, Driving Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, will be underpinned by three themes:
Sustainability, which will include sessions on tracking progress towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, ESG reporting, optimizing operations for environmental performance, reducing single-use plastics, and circular strategies for unit load device (ULD) components. .
Digitization, which will include sessions on data-driven strategies to improve performance and reduce costs, achieving OneRecord efficiency and the potential of generative AI in air cargo.
Safety and security, which will include sessions on Annex 18, regulatory oversight of freight forwarders/handling agents for dangerous goods shipments, fire containment strategies for lithium battery shipments, ULD airworthiness, latest developments for shipping security of live animals, implications of an integrated risk. management framework.
Workshops
Inclusive strategies for managing the people needed to lead and drive the future of air cargo will be the focus of two key WCS workshops:
Building the next generation of talent at the Future Air Cargo Executive Summit (FACES)
The benefits of competency-based training through the IATA Competency-Based Training and Assessment Center (CBTA Center) and how it helps improve safety and performance in the workplace.
Additional workshops include:
Improve performance in key market segments using IATA's Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) programs (CEIV Pharma, CEIV Live Animals, CEIV Lithium Battery and CEIV Fresh).
How IATA Cargo Solutions are helping the industry in cargo decision-making and compliance, to improve safety and efficiency.
How air cargo billing and settlement can be improved using the new CASSLink
An e-commerce forum to identify how greater visibility between e-tailers and freight operators would improve efficiency.