Kasim Sumaina in Abuja
The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), has announced that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the use of digital technology to report accident investigations in Nigeria.
The Commissioner of AIB, Engr. Akin Olateru, who made the disclosure in Abuja, Olateru said that the Bureau is delighted to announce that funding has been approved for the development of Advanced Report Generation Utility Engine (ARGUE), a system which will dramatically improve how Air Accident Investigation results are communicated to, and accessed by, stakeholders.
He stated that by and large, accident investigation authorities do an excellent job of investigating aviation occurrences worldwide, through a long evolution of best practices detailed in ICAO Annex 13.
Olateru, said that however, “when it comes to communicating the results of investigations, most States still default to the legacy verbose written approach in which reports are published as PDF documents.
“In today’s fast paced world where people often barely skim the headlines, effective marketing of the results of investigations is arguably the next hurdle to overcome, if we are to truly exploit the lessons learned.”
He further maintained that many state databases are notorious for collecting information, but when it comes to the dissemination of information, they perhaps fall short of the mark as, in some cases, the information is not even accessible to the public.
According to him: “The Accident investigation process, put simply, involves the investigation of incidents/occurrences and the documentation of findings and recommendations via word documents, which are subsequently converted into PDF format and published to the world.
“An average report could contain over 200 pages of information, ranging from the basics of the incident in view to more complex technical issues about the aircraft.
“The document is usually of interest, and relevant, to a wide range of stakeholders for varying reasons. The communication of information can only really be deemed effective if it is relevant and readily accessible, in both content and format, to the target audience.
“AIB-N is taking the lead on this front, with ARGUE, by taking the next logical step in the publication of its report. We will shortly begin producing our reports in Digital format, with embedded animation capabilities”, Olateru stated.
The Commissioner said, “by this initiative, we will bring accident reporting into the current media age. ARGUE has embedded tools which enable the use of advanced graphic/ animation software to communicate more effectively than often ambiguous written words.
“Most importantly, web technology formatted content directs attention to the areas of highest importance instantly, eliminating the need to peruse an entire PDF document in search of a specific detail.
“Digitilising our reports is fully compliant with ICAO Annex 13 and aims to enhance the reading experience and enable quick and easy access to the desired aspects of the report, with the click of an embedded link.”
