Startup Idea: Software Solution for Air Traffic Control Information Dissemination
I am an air traffic controller, and we deal with a lot of information from a lot of sources. While the FAA may be an organization that you don't want to sell to, there are quite a number of civilian organizations that also engage in air traffic control. For that matter, there is what I like to call a "train traffic controller", as well, which does essentially the same thing for trains as we do for planes. In any case, in the civilian side, we often jump from one organization (Midwest ATC, SERCO, et al), and it would be really convenient if there were a standardized piece of software that displayed/disseminated the information that we all use -- no matter who we work for -- in a fairly standardized manner. (And once you have a footing in the civilian side, it only makes sense for it to be picked up by the organization that you don't want to work for.) In any case, there are any number of pain points every day, all day, when it comes to information dissemination not only within the ATC environment (i.e. the Control Tower cab, or the RADAR room), but also between one ATC facility and another, and between ATC facilities and the agencies that we deal with (airfield management, maintenance, fire department, police, hospital, etc.). This area is ripe for a change. Make it happen (please!). You can look at Systems Atlanta's "IDS5" program, but it is not a very good solution. They think it is, but I have repeatedly sent them lists of the shortcomings of the system (as well as flat-out errors in its operation) that they have yet to address through multiple iterations of the product.