Over 50 special invitees representing various facets of the global cargo service industry gathered in Bangalore, the IT capital of India from the 15th to 17th of November, 2016 to take part in the10^th IBS Cargo Forum Summit held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel. The event provided key business leaders in the cargo industry an interactive ideation platform where they exchanged perspectives and forecasts about the future of their businesses, thereby contributing in a big way to IBS' inclusive product development strategy for iCargo.

This time, the focus was on innovation that delivers tangible value to the customer. Emerging technologies such as intelligent agents, chatbots, smart cargo warehousing and truck guidance systems were in the spotlight, giving customers some glimpses into the future roadmap of the product. Specially designated kiosks called 'Experience Zones' were deployed at the event venue to showcase prototypes giving a firsthand view of iBeacons, Geolocation apps and Mobility solutions. The attendees were quite undivided in their verdict that a 'smart' future powered by the Internet of Things (IoT) is imminent for the cargo industry.

The three day event kicked off with the plenary session, where V K Mathews, Executive Chairman of IBS Software delivered the keynote address on how the industry stands to gain from comprehensive digitization of operations. Jitendra Sindhwani, President and Head, Aviation Services Business then outlined some of the key initiatives through which the organization is preparing to enhance the tangible value it delivers to customers. This was followed by product related updates as well as breakout sessions where the road maps for Revenue Accounting, Sales and Terminal Operations modules were dealt with in depth.

Working Groups were conducted for Airline Sales, Cargo Operations, Cargo Revenue Accounting and User Experience bringing together business function experts from within IBS and from customer organizations, in order to establish priorities for future development. A roundtable session titled 'Making Cargo Speak' moderated by Ashok Rajan, Vice President & Head, Airline Cargo Services at IBS Software raised significant interest among the attendees.

Prior to the main event, the IBS Cargo Strategy Group had convened to chart out the medium and long term goals for the product and to plan out effective functioning of the community as a driver for the evolution of iCargo. Senior executives from iCargo's customer organizations around the world shared their perspectives and plans for the future of the industry, which in turn will power the development strategy for the product to keep it future-ready in a fast-paced industry.

The overwhelmingly positive feedback from the participants was testimony to the extraordinary level of engagement within the customer community and the effectiveness of the highly inclusive working model that truly differentiates iCargo from its competition. The intense levels of camaraderie among the members is another driving force that keeps the forum extremely productive and relevant in terms of industry acceptance.

IBS Software now looks forward to welcoming all members of the IBS Cargo Forum for the 11^th edition of the event.