Considering Context in Air Traffic Control System Design

A research trend for the past 20 years in air traffic control (ATC) has consisted of studying the feasibility of replacing the traditional physical tower with a remote center. Some aerospace institutions have developed successful prototypes that recreate the air situation from the airfield to the remote center through cameras connected to screens. However, such prototypes are heavily technocentric and do not reconsider the human and organizational elements that compose any ATC system. This chapter reflects on this case study and uses it to think about how the complexity of socio-technical systems should be considered within the design processes. More generally, we discuss how the operational context of socio-technical systems is difficult to predict at design time. However, context solidly influences overall system behavior and should be captured as early as possible in the system lifecycle.