TIACA’s Scholte touts ‘new vision,’ Asia expansion

Saying he wants to create a “stronger, more focused and a more agile” association, Sebastiaan Scholte, chairman of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) said the organization will redouble its efforts to promote disruptive innovation, including blockchain, “big data” analysis. ”We are having to rethink the way we conduct ourselves and our businesses in order to stay ahead in the game.”

In recent months, he said, TIACA has partnered with “a number of organizations and associations around the world,” including Airports Council International (ACI) and the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA), in a effort to become “a unifying platform in which supply chain stakeholders from everywhere can network, learn from each other, and share best practices.”

This year will be the first time, for instance, that TIACA’s annual Air Cargo Forum & Exhibition will be held in conjunction with CIFFA’s 70th anniversary conference and the inaugural Multimodal Americas show. The forum will take place Oct. 16-18 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

TIACA also said that the Hong Kong-based Neutral Air Partner (NAP) organization – representing air cargo consolidators, master loaders, GSAs and wholesalers, charter brokers, express and time-critical service firms – has applied to become a corporate member of TIACA.

The new TIACA strategy – complete with and updated logo – came about as a result of several think-tank meetings TIACA held at the end of 2017 to “strengthen our value proposition to our members,” Scholte said. “We have also been reaching out to new regions to increase our visibility as well as explore how we can support and represent the interests and goals of emerging air cargo hotspots.”

Scholte also said TIACA will focus its efforts on attracting and retaining “the next generation of logistics leaders,” Scholte added. “Our new vision and mission sends a message that we are ready to embrace the younger demographics and stay relevant in a business landscape where their needs, as well as ours, are changing all the time.”