November-December 2022 - 24

PRODUCT PROFILE
AUTHOR Rebecca Kanable
Power 2022 North America Airport
Satisfaction Study, Minneapolis-Saint
Paul International Airport ranked
highest in passenger satisfaction
among mega airports.
Technology Goals
From a technology management
perspective, Valencia said the goal
was to eliminate individual display
systems and move them to a more
robust environment by having one
enterprise system.
Information
Content Management System
Helps MSP Display Excellence
Digital signage can be used to elevate the customer experience, providing relevant realtime
information.
METROPOLITAN AIRPORTS COMMISSION
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL International Airport (MSP)
uses one content management system (CMS) to
manage about 900 digital displays of various types
- from overhead roadway signs to baggage information
displays.
According to Eduardo Valencia,
CIO, Metropol itan Airpor t s
Commission (MSP's owner and
operator), the inspiration to consolidate
display information systems
came from the Minnesota Twins.
Valencia is a member of the Large
Venue Tech Collective based in the
Twin Cities. So is Minnesota Twins
Senior VP of Technology John
Avenson, who talked about the CMS
at the Twins' stadium.
" You really know when something
good is happening by the
combination of what you're seeing
and what you're hearing, on top
of what you're witnessing in the
stadium, " said Valencia. " Although
we're not scoring home runs, we do
have the opportunity to manage an
experience. "
Taking a play from the Twins,
Valencia sought a digital display CMS
that would allow better IT management
and enable business units
within the airport to control their
own content and share content across
displays. With these goals, the airport
aimed to create a better passenger
experience, and, it did. In the J.D.
24 \ AIRPORT BUSINESS / NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022
systems inside and outside of the
terminal have been converged. Any
display can now show information
about roadway traffic, wayfinding,
ticketing, check-in, passenger flow,
wait times, flights, baggage, and TSA
and Customs and Border Protection
requirements, as well as advertising.
With fewer " moving parts " and
eliminating the variability that comes
with multiple systems, Valencia said
the displays are managed through a
digital display monitoring software
and reliability is increased.
Cross asset utilization also encourages
the use of consistent messaging
and affords efficiency.
In airports, you sort of have these
" fiefdoms, " Valencia said. In other
words, he said, " Those displays are
only for this purpose. "
Picture a bank of many monitors
displaying flight information at the
beginning of the day. As there are
fewer flights left in the day, less
space is needed for flight information,
making room for other content.
The CMS can dynamically use that
free space and offer art or advertising,
for instance.
" We wanted to leverage all our
digital displays in a cohesive integrated
way to try to then open up that
digital canvas to business (units) for
them to use, basically be able to put

November-December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November-December 2022