Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority Sets Sail with BlueFinity’s mv.NET

Ideal Business Services Ltd. is a U.K.-based IT solutions company that develops and supports tracking and control solutions for various logistics industries. Ideal's client, Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA), is responsible for running the Caribbean island's two principal seaports, Castries and Vieux Fort, and the George F.L. Charles and Hewanorra International Airports, as well as the smaller points of entry, Soufriere, Marigot and Rodney Bay Marina. SLASPA's mandate is defined as the provision of coordinated and integrated systems of airports and seaports.

Until recently, statistical information for SLASPA’s airports was maintained locally in each of the island's two locations. The setup had become obsolete; information was not shared correctly between the airports causing reporting inaccuracies. In order to provide accurate and consistent reporting of all aircraft and passenger movements to the Government Council, SLASPA needed a solution which would provide real-time updates from their port management information system. SLASPA needed a secure Web portal where SLASPA employees could input statistical information and allow real-time reporting for government authorities. Although SLASPA looked into available solutions, because of its specialized requirements, there were no off-the-shelf packages that met their needs.  

At the time, Paul Parkinson of Ideal Business Services was involved in a project to upgrade SLASPA’s existing port management information system to capture data on its cargo, and container handling operations in a UniData database to enable easier access to information.  When he learned about the problems SLASPA was experiencing regarding the airport management, Parkinson thought BlueFinity’s mv.NET might be the tool they needed to bring the application online.

Parkinson was assured by BlueFinity that a sharp learning curve and extended development effort could be avoided with the use of mv.NET. And, since mv.NET is available for all MultiValue databases, he would be able to create applications for the Web while taking advantage of his experience with UniData.

Today, better data reporting gives SLASPA management and appropriate government ministers the information they need when they need it, and   the more efficient systems have led to reduced customer waiting time. The Airports Statistics Management Information System (ASMIS) now captures data on all aircraft and passenger movements at both George F.L. Charles and Hewanorra International Airports. 

Parkinson has also developed other applications utilizing mv.NET for SLASPA. “Since October, we’ve added features to the airport management application, added yacht management and designed an application that accesses cruise liner databases and vessels to give a visual representation of the harbor in St. Lucia, all using BlueFinity’s mv.NET.  The next projects will be linking into the existing systems and I have it in mind to use Web services to transfer the data from system to system,”  said Parkinson. For more details on the Ideal implementation for SLASPA, go here and for more on BlueFinity, go here.