The commissioner of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Engr Akin Olateru disclosed, on Wednesday, that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the use of digital technology to report accident investigations in Nigeria.
Speaking in Abuja, Olateru said “the Bureau is delighted to announce that funding has been approved for the development of ARGUE (Advanced Report Generation Utility Engine), a system which will dramatically improve how air accident investigation results are communicated to, and accessed by, stakeholders.
“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.
“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 explained further that “many states 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.
“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. “Akin stated.
The Commissioner said “by this initiative, we will bring accident reporting into the current media age. ARGUE has embedded tools that 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 specific detail.
“ARGUE was showcased in the 2019 ICAO Assembly, and AIB was applauded for the initiative which is the first of its kind in the world. It is intended to give investigators a productive, usable tool to develop investigation content in a web publishable ready format during the investigation process, eliminating the need for the usually written report format.
He said the technology was to be created by a foreign company with Nigerian investigators being part of the process, and that the project was awaiting final approval upon which the project would commence.