Headline April 08, 2016/ ''' TRAVELLING *STUDENTS* TECHNOLOGY '''

''' TRAVELLING *STUDENTS* 

TECHNOLOGY '''

TO SUM,  -THE WORLD.... has started to recognize that a new generation of employees and managers who grew up-

In a digital age are moving up the ranks, and they are used to dealing with technology more directly on handsets.

''There is a shift away from the  command-and-control perspectives of the past,'' said Greeley Koch, executive director of the  Association of Corporate Travel Executives.

''The focus now is more on the traveler and the productivity of such trip, so that the travelers can have the greatest return on investment on each trip.''

''There is a general dissatisfaction with the corporate travel technology,'' said Mark Hollyhead, a senior vice president for Egencia Americas, a travel management company owned by Expedia.

''In the  10  to 15  years  the  Internet has grown, travel management has been driven by corporations. Compliance and reporting have been the bedrock of these policies.''

Only one in four companies had a policy governing mobile devices as they related to employees travel, according to research by the travel distribution service Transport and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives. But some are beginning to recognize the need for greater flexibility

The are acknowledging that their employees who travel on business are behaving the way they do their leisure trips   -looking for information online and insights from from a variety of sources.    

The environment is much changed from that of a few years ago, after the recession froze much of the business travel. Since, then, a revolution in mobile technology has taken a very firm hold.

And with the economy growing in America and fuel prices low, the Global Business Travel Association expects total United States business travel spending to grow by  3%  this year to about $300 billion and by 6% in 2016. 

So many, many companies are moving their  travel departments away from finance or procurement into human resources..........

''IT'S GONE BEYOND EFFICIENCY. It's really about effectiveness,'' said Eric Bailey, the corporate travel manager at Microsoft.

He oversees about  5,000  traveling employees. ''It's not just cost. It's about risk and liabilities reduction.'' 

AIRLINES AND AIRPORTS are already relying on sensors in airports to track the flow of passengers and identify-

The bottlenecks in traffic between the curb and the gate. And they alert passengers, through text messages or emails, if a flight is delayed.

But technology in the future will allow them to see travelers' positions through the GPS device on their phones  -to track their movements.

If a passenger is late for a flight, for instance, an airline might redecide to rebook the passenger on the next flight automatically. the car rental service or taxi service would know of the delay, and the hotel might be notified of a late arrival.......all seamlessly.

''Today, this stuff is very manual and only happens primarily with the top executives of a company, who have someone who monitors their travel and takes care of them,'' Mr Koch said.

''But in the future, that will all be linked together. All these things will trickle down and happen.''

What is missing, however, is for a tech innovator like  Apple or  Google to come up with the software and technology that integrate all the disparate flows of information that are collected and make them work together.

''This is kind of holy grail,'' Mr. Koch said. ''We have all this power in our smartphones, but all the individual apps are not talking to each other yet.''

For now, there are more prosaic apps. Airlines have long sought to develop more direct relationships with business travelers. Through their mobile travel apps, they can already offer more personal service and provide easy check in options and electronic boarding passes to passengers.

Going one step further, these apps also lets passengers quickly find new options of their flights are canceled or delayed.

And they also serve as a retail platform for airlines to offer other services, upgrades, car-rentals or hotels.

one of the consequences of this new technological  ecosystem is a fragmentation of the travel market.

In practical terms, this means that travelers need dozen of different apps to manage their trips     -airlines, hotels, rental cars and travel groups all have their own apps for smartphones, and all seek to create unique relationships with travelers that are generally invisible to corporate travel managers.

Dealing with this growing complexity is fast turning to into major concern facing travel managers, according to Ms. Strachan of American Express.

Still,  travel managers see many benefits to this technological environment. The ubiquity of smartphones, for example, is improving a company's duty of care, a term that refers to its legal obligation to ensure the well-being of its traveling employees.

It is now easier to track people on the road and ensure their safety.

About  75%   of travel and expense budgets, including airfare and hotels, fall under some kind of managed budget.

The rest, such as ground transportation,  food,  fuel and other incidentals, is generally outside what corporations can control.

That's a sector ripe for technological change, Mr. Bailey said.  

''With respectful dedication to all the Travelers,  Airlines, Travelling Agents, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW!  -the World students Society and the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Students & Devices '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless