REAL-TIME DATA PLATFORM IMPROVES FINAVIA’S DATA USABILITY

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Finavia is responsible for 25 million flight passengers annually. Growing demand for accurate and accessible data surfaced the need to develop real-time data capabilities instead of relying on conventional financial reporting.

We set out to build a real-time data platform that helps Finavia to deliver its value promise: For Smooth Travelling.

Finavia operates 21 airports with a passenger volume of 25 million (in 2018), out of which Helsinki Airport accounts for more than 80%.

FROM CONVENTIONAL REPORTING
TO A REAL-TIME DATA HUB

Until recent years, Finavia used a very conventional reporting method for financial data. 

The new data platform – Data Hub – is based on the two main airport processes: aircraft turnaround and the passenger’s path, and has two core purposes:

  • Bring all data from these processes to one place
  • Make it convenient to share, combine, and request the data for further use

Data Hub has become such an embedded part of Finavia employees’ lives that they even refer to the process as ‘hubbing the data’.

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30 DATA SOURCES
BROUGHT UNDER ONE ROOF

The data for Data Hub comes from nearly 30 very different sources, with flight data being a central one. Data is also imported from, for example, IoT sensors, RFI tags, and customer feedback terminals. Experienced IT experts work in the background to make sure that the information architecture and the bigger picture are managed smartly.

The change in the approach led to a situation where day-to-day use cases started to emerge from Finavia’s business. The first ones involved the management of information display screens and luggage. They are exactly the kind of data use cases that secure Finavia’s value promise to all passengers.

MAKING DATA MORE
ACCESSIBLE AND USABLE

Alongside unifying data, the creation of the platform accelerated a larger shift at Finavia. Data managers and users’ focus turned from reporting to the data itself, which improves the organization’s ability to improve core processes with data. Instead of having a purely business intelligence point of view, Finavia now considers data as assets and how they can be used for business value.

Real-time PowerBI reports connected to Data Hub have around 150 users, now able to react quickly to unexpected situations and anomalies. Relevant data is displayed to them automatically without the user needing to open a separate report.

In other words, the key element of Data Hub is not that all data has been brought to one place, but that it can be shared, combined, and requested with more accuracy and timeliness. Data Hub has become such an embedded part of Finavia employees’ lives that they even refer to the process as ‘hubbing the data’.

RESULTS AND IMPACT

A shift in thinking from BI reporting to data assets

A solid foundation that allows the creation of new data use cases

Transparent and fact-based real-time data supports prompt decision-making

150 new active Data Hub users

AGILE DATA ENGINE
AS A TECHNICAL ENABLER

Our team and product at Agile Data Engine had a central role throughout the Data Hub creation project. We have worked closely together on building and developing the foundation for Finavia’s future data products and reporting solutions.

Technologies used alongside Agile Data Engine:

AWS-1

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Snowflake-1

Snowflake

Microsoft BI

Microsoft PowerBI

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SIMILAR?

Feel the need for real-time data? Or maybe your collection of data sources doesn’t translate into high-value data assets?

Send us a message! Let’s figure out what your ideal Data Hub could look like.