ProofIT has joined NOMAD (Next-Gen Service Oriented Modular ATM Development for Enroute & TMA), a major European air traffic management innovation project supported by €21 million in funding from the SESAR Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme.
The three-year project brings together leading air navigation service providers, ATM technology companies, research institutions, and specialist technology partners from across Europe. NOMAD will formally begin this autumn, with its kick-off meeting taking place on 10 September in Brussels at EUROCONTROL.
ProofIT will contribute its test automation and performance testing expertise in the testing and validation of complex air traffic management systems, supporting the development of the next generation of digital ATM infrastructure in Europe.
NOMAD has been established to support the transformation of European air traffic management into a more connected, automated, flexible, and resilient ecosystem.
The project contributes to the vision of the Digital European Sky and the latest European ATM Master Plan, which aim to modernise Europe’s air traffic infrastructure while maintaining high safety standards, increasing operational efficiency, and reducing aviation’s environmental impact.
At the heart of NOMAD is the development and validation of a new generation of ATM platforms based on cloud technologies, automation, cybersecurity, and real-time information exchange.
The objective is to enable air navigation service providers to manage capacity more dynamically in response to changing traffic demand, while reducing delays, emissions, and operational complexity.
NOMAD will focus on three major areas of technological development.
The project will also investigate advanced applications of artificial intelligence and human-machine collaboration. These technologies have the potential to support air traffic controllers, improve predictability, increase available airspace capacity, and enable higher levels of automation while maintaining the stringent safety requirements of European aviation.
ProofIT will contribute its ATM test-automation expertise to the project’s integration, regression, performance testing and validation activities.
This role builds on ProofIT’s experience in the automated testing of integrated, business- and mission-critical systems, as well as its specialist expertise in air traffic management environments.
ProofIT will also have the opportunity to apply its internally developed ATM system testing solution, created specifically for automated regression and end-to-end testing of integrated ATM environments.
“It is a great honour for us to be part of the NOMAD project” – says Attila Mészáros, R&D Director of ProofIT. – “The programme gives us the opportunity to contribute our specialist ATM testing expertise and to apply our internally developed ATM system testing tool, which has been designed specifically for automated regression and end-to-end testing of integrated ATM environments.”
The participation of ProofIT reflects the increasingly important role of systematic, automated verification in the development of next-generation ATM platforms. As air traffic management becomes more distributed, interconnected, cloud-based, and automated, comprehensive testing is essential to verifying interoperability, performance, reliability, and operational resilience.
NOMAD aims to achieve Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL 6), meaning that the technologies developed during the programme will be demonstrated and validated in environments representative of real operational conditions.
Reaching this level is an important milestone toward the potential future deployment of the developed solutions across the European ATM ecosystem.
The project is expected to contribute to several strategic European aviation objectives, including:
For ProofIT, participation in NOMAD further strengthens the company’s position as a specialist in the testing and validation of advanced air traffic management systems.
It also provides an opportunity for ProofIT’s engineers and testing experts to contribute directly to technologies that may shape the future European aviation ecosystem.
NOMAD brings together expertise from air navigation, ATM technology, research, data services, and specialist engineering organisations across Europe.
Project partners include ProofIT, Tern Systems, Avians, SkySoft-ATM, Skyguide, HungaroControl, SKAI LABS, IDIAP, AVTECH, BME, SpeechTex, MetSafe, SITA, Airtel, Slot Consulting, and Navya Solutions.
By combining operational ATM expertise with advanced digital technologies and specialist testing capabilities, the consortium aims to accelerate the development of a safer, more automated, interoperable, and resilient European air traffic management environment.
Horizon Europe is the European Union’s key funding programme for research and innovation. It supports scientific and technological development addressing major societal and economic challenges, including climate change, sustainability, digital transformation, and European competitiveness.
The SESAR Joint Undertaking (SESAR JU) is a European public-private partnership established to modernise Europe’s air traffic management system.
SESAR — Single European Sky ATM Research — coordinates research, innovation, and technology development aimed at improving the safety, efficiency, capacity, sustainability, and resilience of European air traffic management.
