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How access to data undermines Africa’s aviation sector, says Avialog CEO

The Lack of accurate data has negatively impacted the continent’s aviation industry.

This was the view of the chairman and Chief executive officer of Avialog Company Limited, Dr. Richard Aisuebeogun at the just concluded 12th Aviation Stakeholders and Safety Summit Convention put together by the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), Flight Safety Foundation and hosted by Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Aisuebeogun noted that there is a need for all the players in the industry like the Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA), airport authorities,  and airlines among other service providers to make data available, adding that it is only when data is made available that proper empirical decisions can be made in the aviation sector.

Dr. Richard Aisuebeogun

In Nigeria, availability of data is a herculean task as airlines’ passenger traffic among others conflicts with the records of either the Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Aerodrome or Navigation service provider; a situation that has led to conflict most times.

Aside from that, most of the airlines’ earnings or the aggregate revenues made from the aviation sector in Nigeria had many times been disputed with nobody ready to provide data (figures) backed by accurate data or statistics.

When the need arises for this data to be used, he said it can used to establish clearly what will help the sector to mitigate any incident or accident in the future, pleading that the industry should make data available for shared knowledge and continuous reviewing exercise.

He stated that there are so many different types of data generated daily in our sector, stressing, “You need to ask yourself, is this data the type you can trust? Are the numbers right? That’s a challenge from Africa’s aviation perspective and the airlines’ perspective.”

He said, “Just thinking aloud now, we are in an environment where in a very empirical sector. Whatever reason we are going to derive from any study must be scientific to the extent that it will be subjected to further study and replicated from one region to the other.”

“However, all of these can only be achieved when we widen our data net and make easier collection. The point I am trying to bring out is this, for instance in this part of the world, Africa in particular, it is so difficult to mine data and access data, either from the CAA or the airport authority or even from airlines and other service providers. I have had postgraduate students and colleagues in the industry who are researching subject matters critical to the industry safety, but they cannot access data.”

He called on policymakers and key aviation bodies to emphasise the need for every one of them to make data available, “Because it is only when we have data that we can make proper decisions. Someone talked about data-driven decision processes.”

“Yes, those decision-making processes can only help the industry based on empirical data. Of course, you know that data are in two forms, primary and secondary. It is easier to get the primary because you just administer your tools or instrument to everyone around you within the environment but the secondary data that lies with us whether from the non-punitive reporting system put in place by the CAA that is submitted or from whatever record available.

“When the need arises for this data to be used, it can establish clearly what will help us to mitigate any incident or accident in the future. Let us by all means make this data available”, he added.

Once the data is in hand and proven to be trustworthy, Aisuebeogun argued there is still work to be done. He added, “You need to know how you use it and analyse it and come up with recommendations and process it to drive your bottom line.

Experts are of the view that to ensure an effective Return on Investment (ROI), one must be confident in the quality of the data.

L-R Dr. Harold Demuren, member Flight Safety Foundation.
Mr. Kayode Ariwodola – Director, Global Safety and Regulatory
Affairs – Middle East & Africa Dubai Office, Boeing Inc. and Dr. Richard Aisuebeogun

However, they admitted there were still issues with collecting data in Africa, pointing out that records of buying tickets are often not as detailed.  They reiterated that airlines need to trust any data shared is done so confidentially to ensure it doesn’t end up being used against them.

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