APEX TECH Schedule

Tuesday 21 March, 2023
8:00 AM – 7:30 PM PST

The Future of Connectivity
As airlines confront their need for passenger and crew Connectivity, they need information about all the options available now and in the near future. What do the new developments mean for airlines?   E.g., Hundreds of new satellite launches, “multi-orbit” partnerships, and new 5G architecture (not to be confused with 5G cellular!). What will the next generation aircraft terminals look like?   Will new flat panel antennas and dual modem boxes dominate airline decisions?   And what are the airframers planning? What is meant by service orchestration and why is it important, and what software defined solutions are on the horizon? These and other core issues will be defined and discussed.

Revisiting Inflight Connectivity Quality of Experience
The APEX Connectivity Working Group made great progress in identifying what needs to be measured and reported regarding IFC QoE.  But airlines continue to say that their SLAs do not answer their need for knowing the actual customer experience.   Some IFC service providers are working on their own methods for reporting QoE, others are working with outside companies to measure QoE.  Airlines are also looking for services / processes that can help them not only measure QoE, but also use the data to make business decisions.  This session will look at the current status of measuring and reporting QoE and plans for the future.  It will also look at the needs of airlines as they grow their IFC services, including offering IFC for free. 

New innovations in Inflight Connectivity
Airlines are continually bombarded with new innovations, and considering the long lead times to equip aircraft, they need to make decisions about which products are right for them now and what is coming up in the future. This session will highlight the technologies involved in the new products selected as finalists in the competition for APEX’ most recent Best Inflight Connectivity Innovation award – the latest technology advances in onboard Wi-Fi, LEO antennas, and multi-modem satellite terminals. Then the experts will give their views on where the technology is going next – what to look for next in the areas of WiFi, multi-modem satellite terminals, and innovative antennas.

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM PST – Registration and Coffee

9:00 AM – 9:10 AM PST
Welcome & Introduction 

  • APEX CEO, Joe Leader, and Incoming Technology Committee Chair and APEX Board Member, Jonas von Krüchten, Head of Strategy and Business Development, AERQ 

9:10 AM – 9:30 AM PST
Keynote Address 
An Airline’s Insights
Dr. Zhihang Chi, Vice President & General Manager, North America, Air China

9:30 AM – 10:15 AM PST
Presentation with Q&A 
The Future of Inflight Connectivity: Transformation Among Space, Cloud and Ground Technology

Inflight Connectivity (IFC) relies on satellite communications where, today, major transformation is happening among the traditional space and ground segments. Increasing the rate of change is the move to converge these space-based technologies with terrestrial and wireless networks.  Digitized and virtualized infrastructures, built on open standards and even hybridized with terrestrial, are the IFC networks of the future. A more collaborative approach of interoperability and partnerships appears to be on the horizon. 5G standards and new orchestration techniques will enable unprecedented service agility.

  • Presenter: Sean Yarborough, Vice President of Product Management, ST Engineering iDirect

10:15 AM – 10:45 AM PST – Networking Break

Sponsored By:

10:45 AM – 11:45 AM PST
Panel with Q&A 
How Space Ecosystem Convergence Will Affect Inflight Connectivity

Satellite network operators, service providers and their technology partners are now embarking on building this new future of connectivity. Each one is taking a different approach. Hear from senior leaders how they anticipate innovations from 5G architectures, software-defined technologies, service orchestration, and more will affect the airlines and inflight connectivity. 

  • Moderator: Mary Kirby, Founder and Editor, Runway Girl Network
  • Panelists: Mike Pigott, EVP Connectivity, Anuvu; Dave Bijur, SVP Commercial Aviation, Intelsat; Scott Rees, Senior Director of Operations – Connectivity, Panasonic; Neale Faulkner, Regional VP, Inmarsat Aviation; Nick Galano, Director of Starlink Sales, SpaceX

11:45 AM – 12:30 PM PST
Panel with Q&A
OEM Linefits and Terminal Integration and the Benefits to the Airlines  

The world’s largest OEMs are pursuing new paths and new programs to streamline their business processes. This panel will discuss the factors involved in bringing these projects to fruition and the value of open ecosystems to the airlines. The panel will discuss what it will mean to have greater interoperability and how it may affect the inflight experience.

  • Moderator:  Bhavini Desai, Head of Aero Market Development, ST Engineering iDirect
  • Panelists: Anil Kumar, Technical Fellow – Offboard Communication Systems, Boeing; Yves Beaumont, Avionics Product Line Manager, Kontron Canada Inc.; Bill Milroy, Chairman and CTO, Thinkom Solutions, Inc.; Neale Faulkner, Regional Vice President, Inmarsat Aviation

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM PST – Lunch

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM PST
Panel with Q&A 
New Constellations, New Partnerships, New Players: Are the Airlines Going to Benefit as the Face of the IFC Industry Changes

It seems that every time a person opens a newsletter that covers IFC there is another announcement of a partnership or joint venture between satellite providers, equipment manufacturers, and others.  Some partnerships in some way encompass multiple orbit satellite services.  Some partnerships encompass satellite service providers and equipment manufacturers that is some ways are connected to new satellite systems. It is challenging trying to keep track of these partnerships and more importantly how does it impact my airline?

  • Moderator: Mary Rogozinski, NetForecast
  • Panelists: Tim Southard, VP Networks, Anuvu; Brian Kirby, Senior Technical Product Manager, Telesat; Floris Reimbold, Senior Manager Business Development, AERQ; Dave Bijur, SVP Commercial Aviation, Intelsat; Nicholas Charron, Director of Strategic Partnerships & Business Development – Connectivity, Thales

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM PST
Panel Discussion 
Inflight Connectivity Quality of Experience Metrics

This session will discuss measuring, using, and reporting QoE. 

  • Moderator: Mary Rogozinski, NetForecast
  • Panelists: Alan Jones, Chief Technologist, NetForecast, Inc.; Benny Retnamony, CEO, eSpace; Peter Lemme, Chief Consultant, Seamless Air Alliance (SAA)

3:30 PM – 4:00 PM PST – Networking Break

4:00 PM – 4:30 PM PST
Panel Discussion
Open Discussion with Airlines/Service Providers

Airlines will provide their feedback on the previous discussion as well as participate in an open discussion with the audience.  A case study by an airline is also planned.

  • Moderator: Mary Rogozinski, NetForecast

4:30 PM – 5:00 PM PST
Panel Discussion
Driving Personalization, Ancillary Revenue, and Brand Reinforcement

Engaging passengers with their personally-curated personality opens up the greatest opportunity to extending the airline relationship beyond just transporting them to a destination. Combining off-the-shelf technology makes the process simple; seamlessly connecting the passenger’s device. The footprint can extend from one airline, to groups of airlines, and even to all the hospitality partners in the passenger’s journey.

  • Moderator: Peter Lemme, Chief Consultant, Seamless Air Alliance (SAA)
  • Speakers: Mark Cheyney, IFEC Strategy, Performance and Operations Manager, IAG Loyalty; Edward Kyte, Airline Proposition Manager, Digital Commerce & Experience Inmarsat Aviation; Simon Vaughan, CCO, GlobalReach Technology

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM PST
New innovations in Inflight Connectivity

This session will highlight the technologies involved in the new products selected as finalists in the competition for APEX’ most recent Best Inflight Connectivity Innovation award.  Then the experts will give their views on where the technology is headed in the areas of WiFi, multi-modem satellite terminals, and innovative antennas.

  • Moderator: Rich Salter, The Salter Group
  • Speakers: Job Heimerix, CEO, AirFi; Eric Tarter, Director Systems Engineering, Astronics; Stephen Rice, VP Sales & Business Development, Stellar Blu 

6:00 – 7:30 – APEX Networking Event
Sponsored By:

Wednesday 22 March, 2023
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM PST

Day 2 Objectives:
The Convergence of IFE and Connectivity
Airlines today are faced with more IFE and In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) choices than ever before. The line ‎between IFE and IFC products and suppliers continues to blur. IFE and IFC business models are changing along with the ‎technology. ‎The content supply chain processes are becoming unrecognizable from past models and processes. Once the sole domain ‎of a few IFE suppliers and Content Service Providers (CSPs), does D2C/IFE—and streaming—make airline curated content a ‎thing of the past?‎

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM PST – Registration and Coffee

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM PST                     
Welcome & Introduction 

  • APEX CEO, Joe Leader, and Incoming Technology Committee Chair and APEX Board Member, Jonas von Krüchten, Head of Strategy and Business Development, AERQ

9:15 AM – 9:45 AM PST
Keynote Address 
An Airline’s Insights: The Multiscreen Experience – The Beginning and Evolution Of It
Mariya Stoyanova, Director of Product Development, JetBlue

Ms. Stoyanova oversees creation and development of JetBlue’s onboard and ground experiences, including the award-winning Mint Experience, the multi-screen experience called Fly-Fi. Ms. Stoyanova will discuss the beginning and evolution of the multi-screen experience, its disruption and innovation, and maximizing engagement and revenue. She will also address the launch of NBC Universal’s Peacock streaming service as JetBlue’s streaming partner.

9:45 AM – 10:45 AM PST
Panel Discussion & Workshop Part 1 
The Convergence of IFE and Connectivity: Today’s IFE Media in the Evolving Content Delivery Supply Chain

Today’s content delivery is moving into the cloud. But the vaunted IFE Early Window is now weeks later than the D2C window, and some Content Providers are concerned that outdated Content Integration practices seem to be too slow to make it earlier. What are the motion picture studios doing to facilitate new IFE windowing? Will airlines be willing to concede control over content to D2C providers in order to realize the benefits of D2C-IFE? Should IFE become a geo-location to deal with territorial issues? Does D2C-IFE mean the end of curated content in IFE? What is the future for CSPs? Are we entering an era where the passenger provides the content via personal subscription and the airline provides the pipe? What is the impact on license fees?  What airlines need to know.

  • Moderator: Mary Kirby, Founder, Editor and Publisher, Runway Girl Network
  • Panelists: André Valera, Vice President, Business Development, Touch, ABOVE; Clare Josey, VP Passenger Solutions, Spafax; Michael Valdez, Media Strategy and Quality Initiatives, Panasonic; Oliver de Courson, Sales Director, Vubiquity-Amdocs; Esdra Lamy, SVP, Content Sales, Warner Bros Discovery; Estibaliz Asiain, Sr. Vice President Media & Content, Anuvu, Shafin Virji; Senior VP Lab Services, West Entertainment/ West Fly

10:45 AM – 11:15 AM PST – Networking Break 

Sponsored By:

11:15 AM – 1:00 PM PST
Panel Discussion & Workshop Part 2 
The Convergence of IFE and Connectivity: Edge Caching in the Evolving Content Delivery Supply Chain

Panelists will look into caching content at the edge of the network, and the technology behind it.‎ Today the preponderance of IFE content is stored locally on the aircraft, with the supply and cost of bandwidth constraining delivery via satellite. But what if thousands of new satellites increase bandwidth, decrease costs, and this is combined with the ability to cache content delivered via satellite after the first viewing and deliver it from the server for subsequent use? How are standards being developed by the Streaming Video Technology Alliance (SVTA) being adapted for aviation? Edge caching is now being trialed on UK trains; what does that experience mean for IFE? What is the impact of the migration of CDNs to CDNIs under IETF standards? What do some of the proposed solutions and product comparisons look like? What airlines need to know.

  • Moderator: Michael Childers, Chief Consultant, Content and Media Strategy, Lufthansa Systems; Mary Kirby, Founder, Editor and Publisher, Runway Girl Network 
  • Panelists: Dan Newman, Sr. Director, Content Delivery, Viasat; Philip Watson, Chief Engineer, Systems, Panasonic; Michael Stattmann, Co-Managing Director, Chief Technical Officer, ABOVE; Siegfried Luft, CEO, Netskrt; Alex Beach, Head of Media and Broadcast Market Development, iDirect; Peter Lemme, Chief Consultant, Seamless Air Alliance (SAA); Juraj Siska, Co-Founder, Ideanova; Omar Ramadan, Founder and CEO, Blockcast; Jonas von Krüchten, Head of Strategy and Business Development, AERQ

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM PST – Lunch 

Sponsored By:

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM PST
Panel Discussion & Workshop Part 3 
The Convergence of IFE and Connectivity: The Road Ahead for a Fully-Integrated Supply Chain

Members of the previous panels discuss what the future of fully-integrated IFE and connectivity looks like.‎ How will it be implemented? What are the possible business models? Who is curating the content? How much bandwidth will be available and at what cost? Will airlines have given up control? Will traditional IFE remain on the in-seat displays and D2C-IFE only be available via PEDs? Will airlines still be paying license fees? What role will “smart” metadata play in the future of these systems? What airlines need to know.

  • Moderator: Michael Childers, Chief Consultant, Content and Media Strategy, Lufthansa Systems
  • Panelists: Siegfried Luft, CEO, Netskrt; Michael Stattmann, Co-Managing Director, Chief Technical Officer, ABOVE; Scott Rees, Sr. Director of Connectivity Ops, Panasonic; and other invited panel members.

NOTE: The role of “smart” metadata will be discussed briefly in this session. For a more detailed and comprehensive look into all of the significant benefits of “smart” metadata, be sure to participate in the Day Three “Smart” Metadata sessions in the afternoon.

3:30 PM – 4:00 PM PST – Networking Break 

Sponsored By:

4:00 PM – 5:30 PM PST
Panel Discussion
Inflight Advertising Opportunities in the Streaming Environment

Significant expansion of ad-supported D2C is taking place. Matthew Blay, Inadvia, and a panel of experts, discuss what opportunities this may offer D2C-IFE.  Can ad-supported D2C-IFE become a revenue generator for airlines? What would the technology and business models look like? What airlines need to know.

  • Moderator/Presenter: Mathew Blay, Director, Inadvia 
  • Panelists: Mary Rae Esposito, Director of Sales, North America, Spafax; Chris Demange, Director – Media & Partnerships, Viasat

NOTE: For an in-depth look at the newest developments in IFE advertising, join Matthew Blay and other experts on Day Three.


Thursday 23 March, 2023
8:00 AM – 5:30 PM PST

Day 3 Objectives:
Inflight Advertising, and Smart Metadata
 The morning will be devoted to a two-part Inflight Advertising Workshop that will focus on:

  • How IFEC can unlock the four advertising revenue drivers – Scale, Data, Access to Demand and Ease of Execution campaigns.
  • How IFEC can trade on its unique attributes for advertisers (content, environment, quality of audience, etc.)

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM PST – Registration and Coffee

9:00 AM – 9:15 AM PST                      
Welcome & Introduction 

  • APEX CEO, Joe Leader, and Incoming Technology Committee Chair and APEX Board Member, Jonas von Krüchten, Head of Strategy and Business Development, AERQ

9:15 AM – 10:30 AM PST
Panel Discussion & Workshop Part 1
Inflight Advertising Workshop: Part 1
The digital advertising market will likely begin rebalancing itself again in 2023 as advertisers direct their budgets away from walled gardens (GAFA, social platforms etc.). In years gone by, digital ad spend was often shared between the open web and the walled gardens of Google and Facebook. Publishers have become the gatekeepers to the audiences that advertisers want to reach. As a result, many large publishers and media companies have built walls around their valuable first party and created Walled Gardens of their own. IFEC needs to do the same to capitalize.

Short format videos

According to online video consumption statistics, 92.7% of global internet users watch digital videos – driven originally by social media platform, advertisers respond by building ad formats that suit the channel; publishers (airlines) need to evolve to carry these campaigns.

  • Matthew Blay, Director, Inadvia; Jonas von Krüchten, Head of Strategy and Business Development, AERQ; Dirk Ottens, Head of Content and Media Strategy, Lufthansa Systems; will have an open conversation with audience involvement.

10:30 AM – 10:50 AM PST – Networking Break 

10:50 AM – 12:00 PM PST
Panel Discussion & Workshop Part 2
Inflight Advertising Workshop: Part 2

Privacy and the Deprecation of the 3rd Party Cookie

Still a massive topic, the various privacy changes by governments and tech companies like Google and Apple have cut off the connection between ad tech companies and internet users. Content providers with a direct relationship (and first party data) are best placed to take advantage of this.

  • Matthew Blay, Director, Inadvia; Jonas von Krüchten, Head of Strategy and Business Development, AERQ; Dirk Ottens, Head of Content and Media Strategy, Lufthansa Systems, and others to be named will have an open conversation with audience involvement.

12:00 PM – 1:15 PM PST – Lunch

The Evolution of “Smart” Metadata

The afternoon will focus on “Smart” Metadata in the content delivery supply. “Smart” Metadata includes automating Content Attribute metadata to speed delivery, and ensure compliance with Content Provider rules of usage. Currently being delivered outside the of the content supply chain, the panel will discuss other means of delivery. “Smart” Metadata is also used to identify and manage assets in a faster more reliable way, such as the use of EIDR and Language Metadata Tables (LMT). And “Contextual Metadata” can be used to drive content recommendation and discovery, and as a proxy for GDPR data in ad impression reporting as a means to increase CPMs.

1:15 PM – 2:30 PM PST
Panel Discussion / Presentation
“Smart” Metadata: New Uses for Metadata
This panel will discuss the migration from manual to automated metadata and its delivery to the GUI, alternative delivery methods, and compliance with content provider rules, as well as the means to use “Contextualized Metadata” which goes beyond simple rights management, content identifiers, and descriptions, and expands into disciplines such as asset management. Panelists will also explore how metadata can be used not only as a proxy for GDPR data in ad impression reporting, as well as how “content provenance” metadata can be used to ensure that inflight commercial advertising is C2PA-compliant with regard to age-appropriate requirements.

  • Panelists: Rob Delf, CEO, Fabric; André Valera, VP of Business Development, Touch, ABOVE; Nona Jassen Walls, MBA, Sr. Principal, Slalom; Andy Beer, VP Technology, Spafax

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM PST – Networking Break

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM PST
“Smart” Metadata: Asset Management
“Smart” Metadata is beginning to be used today as a means of increasing the speed and accuracy of media assets in IFE. This includes tracking the availability of edited versions, audio languages, subtitles, captions, audio descriptions and trailers. Panelists will discuss use cases and describe examples of current implementation.

  • Panelists: Rob Delf, CEO, Fabric; André Valera, VP of Business Development, Touch; Nona Janssen Walls, MBA, Sr. Principal, Slalom; Jesse Leiva, Director, Content Development, West Entertainment; Andy Beer, VP Technology, Spafax

4:00 PM – 4:45 PM PST
“Smart” Metadata: Language Metadata Tables (LMT)
Today, Content Providers, Content Service Providers (CSPs), and Content Integrators do not share consistent definitions of dubbed/subtitled/GUI language variants, leading to media sourcing delays, rack test rejections, and poor user experiences. LMT provides a path forward with a comprehensive set of language tags. Ideally, the industry would switch from legacy ISO 639 tags to the LMT (IETF BCP 47 subset); alternatively, the LMT tags could be leveraged as a static pivot dictionary to map third party tags to each other, reducing ambiguity. A must-attend session for CSPs, Content Integrators, and Post-Production Providers.

  • Panelists: Andy Beer, VP Technology, Spafax; Nona Janssen Walls, MBA, Sr. Principal, Slalom

If you have any questions, please contact APEX at info@apex.aero.