IATA successfully concludes World Data Symposium in Singapore

April 10th 2026

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650 delegates attended the International Air Transport (IATA) World Data Symposium (WDS), in Singapore on April 8-9, 2026. Read More » The second edition of the Symposium was an opportunity to build and empower the community working on the tasks centered around digital transformation and cybersecurity in the airline industry value chain. “That is what really the key to WDS even is - not thinking we know the answers, but learning from each other, and in the course of learning from each other, one of the key things that comes around, being united,” Kim Macaulay, International Air Transport Association (IATA) Chief Information and Data Officer, said in her closing remarks.

The 2027 edition of IATA WDS will be held on April 8-9 in New Delhi, with Air India as the event’s partner.

IT providers are fundamental to achieving digital transformation in airline industry

To realize the digital transformation, the airline industry needs the IT providers’ help, even if it means the digital providers have to allow airlines to move away from the legacy systems that they have created. “We need IT providers to work with us as an industry to help us to get away from the legacy environments that they helped to create. It sounds a bit intense, but it is also a reason why airlines try to move towards digital transformation that includes airports, including all systems within the value chain,” Kim Macaulay, International Air Transport Association (IATA) Chief Information and Data Officer, said. She explained that currently, there are a couple of providers behind the systems used by airlines, and because of this, the industry cannot evolve any faster. The need to change this situation is the most important message that the delegates should take away from the IATA World Data Symposium (WDS). “That is also why the strategic partners that we have as the sponsors of this whole function are important, because they will help us to get to the new ways of doing things. Looking back at my banking days, the only way that they could evolve was to realize that tomorrow is not guaranteed. And even in aviation, nothing is guaranteed in terms of our systems, so we need to be able to elevate, evolve. By doing that, hopefully, we will have exposure to our data, we will be able to move more quickly, and we will be able to advance on our cybersecurity technology initiatives. All this comes hand in hand, so we need IT providers to work with us, not hold us to ransom, so to speak,” Macaulay said.

IATA chief economist: Fuel crisis should serve as a reminder of the need for energy transition

The fuel crisis, caused by a military conflict in the Middle East, can be viewed as a reminder of why it is important to move away from the monopoly of fossil fuels, Marie Owens Thomsen, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) SVP Sustainability & Chief Economist, told the media during the IATA World Data Symposium (WDS). “If we manage to get a mindset change, then targets start looking more feasible in spite of the current crisis. Maybe it is actually useful for the world that we are reframing the issue in terms of energy security and energy independence, rather than climate and climate change. Maybe we can get more minds united by framing the issue this way than we could previously,” she commented.