A recent story in Loadstar, talking about IATA’s (International Air Transport Association) OneRecord communication system on which IAM’s (International Association of Movers) approach to future communications in the moving sector are based, will require everyone to be ‘on board’ for it to work.

OneRecord is an IATA standard for data sharing that creates a single end-to-end record of a shipment, shared via a standardised API (application programming interface), facilitating communication between air cargo stakeholders. 

The article quoted Stéphane Graber, Director General of FIATA (International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations) as saying it was difficult to say whether OneRecord was useful or not.  “I think, if we look conceptually, the move to OneRecord is the correct move,” he said. “But when you talk about digitalisation, it’s important to not only consider the technical solution, but also the governance behind it, and how this is implemented with the different actors.”  

The article suggested that the system would be much more complicated to operate if not all stakeholders adopted it.  This could be a salient message for IAM, and the team working on the project.  Also for the industry as a whole.  Few would doubt that having a single, secure communication system between all the players in the industry would be beneficial.  However, if IATA’s current experience is anything to go by, movers will have to decide whether it’s all in or not.

Glyn Hughes, Director General of TIACA (The International Air Cargo Association), explained: “If some do and some don’t, then sadly it adds to the complexity. Complexity equals cost, equals risk.”  IATA’s goal is for all airlines and their supply chain stakeholders to have implemented OneRecord by 1 January, 2026, but Mr Hughes said: “I think that’s a huge stretch. We see the benefits of it, but the pathway to those benefits is not necessarily super clear.”

The Mover reported on the IAM’s approach to digitalisation, and the relevance of OneRecord, in the June 2024 issue.

Read the Loadstar article here.