Glyn Hughes says welcome to Dallas

Dallas is the host city for this week’s IATA World Cargo Symposium. Glyn Hughes, IATA’s global head of cargo, sets out the agenda for the three-day event:
The 12th World Cargo Symposium (WCS) will once again bring together more than 1,000 senior industry leaders, influencers and experts representing the entire supply chain to challenge, debate, explore and agree how best to move the industry forward.
This year’s theme of Connect, Collaborate, Modernize truly reflects what the industry must do in order to shape tomorrow’s industry aligned with tomorrow’s business and consumer worlds.
The WCS week commences with the industry governance groups holding their annual meetings to update and establish new industry standards, ensuring the entire supply chain has the tools necessary to optimise and enhance efficiency as the industry strives to increase transparency and predictability.
Thereafter, a number of workshops are planned, including the second edition of the innovation-focused ‘Horizon workshop’, and the Future of Air Cargo Executives (FACE) programme will be running its latest instalment, which is proving to be the place for future industry leaders to connect.Cargo IQ will be holding a commercial summit to expose the benefits that quality and dynamic shipment management systems can bring in enhancing the industry’s commercial offering.
IATA will also be holding some educational workshops on some of the exciting products we have launched or are about to launch, including the CEIV programme expansion, some great new data solutions under the CARGO IS portfolio and a new tool called DG AutoCheck, which will bring significant quality, safety and efficiency benefits to the acceptance of dangerous goods shipments.
Not to be missed demos will also be provided at the IATA booth throughout the week.
An airport round table session will be held to enhance IATA’s collaboration with this incredibly important group of stakeholders who hold many keys to shaping the future of the industry.
The plenary sessions will bring a mix of inspirational speakers, challenging panels and the usual look back and look ahead, including economic insights. This year’s closing plenary promises to provide a highlight of the week, where the FACE UP graduate competition will reach its conclusion.
Sandwiched between the plenary sessions will be 13 content-specific tracks, including some new ones such as ‘Focus on Dallas’, ‘Baggage Handling’ and ‘eCommerce’.
The full event programme and track lineup as well as registration details can be found at: iata.org/ events/wcs/pages/index.aspx
I look forward to welcoming all delegates for what I anticipate being the best WCS yet, with a great programme encompassing thought-provoking speakers, educational and challenging tracks, great networking opportunities, a varied and comprehensive exhibition and, of course, there is always something new and exciting planned.
It’s your industry so come, participate and shape the future.