We Count What We Care About
In any country, the way data is collected—and who gets counted—reflects the priorities of a nation. For Indonesia, where the skies are as vital as the roads, knowing who keeps those skies safe, efficient, and connected should be a matter of national urgency. Yet, while we celebrate new terminals and air routes, we remain in the dark about the most vital element of aviation: the people.
How many licensed aircraft engineers do we have in Sulawesi? How many air traffic controllers are reaching retirement age? How many trained ground handlers are underemployed in Java while airports in eastern provinces are chronically understaffed? These aren’t just statistical curiosities. They’re questions at the heart of operational safety, investment planning, and equitable national development.
To answer them, Indonesia needs a National Census of Aviation Professionals. And to conduct this smartly, we need to learn from a trusted national expert: Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS).
Why BPS Matters More Than Ever
BPS is not just the agency that counts people; it’s the institution that has built trust through decades of field experience, innovation, and respect for ethical data practices. From population censuses to agricultural surveys, BPS has shown what it means to gather data that speaks not just to quantity but to equity, policy, and transformation.
For the aviation sector—which sits at the intersection of safety, technology, and human capital—the BPS model offers three profound lessons:
- Structured Decentralization: BPS empowers local enumerators while maintaining strong central standards. This allows data collection to be responsive to local context without compromising national comparability.
- Public Engagement: BPS doesn’t merely collect data. It builds public buy-in. With each census, it runs national campaigns to explain the value of participation, cultivating trust among respondents.
- Data Protection and Integrity: BPS applies stringent confidentiality rules, protecting individual identities while allowing aggregate insights to inform national strategies. This balance is crucial in a sector like aviation, where both privacy and transparency are paramount.
Designing the Aviation Census: What Should Be Counted?
We are not starting from zero. Various aviation entities—DGCA, AirNav, airlines, training institutions—already hold fragments of the human capital picture. But these datasets are siloed, inconsistent, and often outdated.
The census must unite these fragments into a coherent, living data ecosystem. It should count not only the obvious roles—pilots, ATC, engineers—but also: Safety officers and ramp agents, Airport administrators and logistics coordinators, Flight dispatchers and regulatory inspectors as well as Ground handlers, fire and rescue personnel
Each of these roles matters in the ICAO safety matrix. Each contributes to Indonesia’s ability to operate a modern, scalable, and equitable aviation system.
The Digital Spine: Inspired by BPS, Tailored for Aviation
Learning from BPS, the census must be digital-first—but not digital-only. A smart aviation census platform should feature:
- Single sign-on integration with national ID and professional licensing systems
- Geo-tagged data entries to identify regional distribution and gaps
- Modular dashboards for regulators, educators, and employers
- Consent-based access control, ensuring data is shared only with permission and for stated purposes
Here, the principle is clear: trust must be coded into the system. From user authentication to encryption and storage, data integrity must be as robust as an aircraft safety protocol.
From Data to Policy: Making the Numbers Work
Too often, data ends up as a report on a shelf. But in the BPS tradition, data is meant to breathe—to circulate, inform, and evolve.
The aviation census should not end with publication. Instead, it should flow into:
- Workforce planning models, forecasting needs by region and role
- Education sector realignment, ensuring training capacity meets real-world demand
- Safety audit preparedness, especially for ICAO USOAP-CMA frameworks
- Inclusion metrics, tracking how women, youth, and underrepresented regions are faring in aviation employment
Imagine an education policymaker able to see—in real time—how many certified technicians are projected to retire in five years. Imagine a local government identifying where to build an aviation polytechnic based on workforce shortages. That’s the power of actionable data.
Safeguarding Trust: Ethical Use of Professional Data
The aviation sector is sensitive—not just in terms of infrastructure, but in terms of human dignity. Professionals will only participate in the census if they believe their data will not be used to monitor or punish, but to build and uplift.
That means: Clear data governance protocols, Anonymization of sensitive fields when used for public dashboards, independent oversight to ensure that privacy is never compromised, and Transparency in how data is used to shape policy and programs
BPS has done this for decades. By following its lead, the aviation census can become not just a data project, but a social contract.
What We Risk Without It
If Indonesia fails to launch this census with care and ambition, the costs will be subtle but deep: Education institutions will keep producing graduates into mismatched market; ICAO audits may flag data deficiencies, affecting international credibility; Frontier airports will continue to suffer invisible shortages; and, The next generation of professionals will navigate their careers without guidance.
Put simply: we will continue to build planes without knowing if we have the people to fly, maintain, and manage them.
Final Approach: This is More Than a Count. It’s a Compass.
Census work is rarely glamorous. It requires patience, coordination, and humility. But in the case of aviation, it offers something extraordinary: a chance to align our workforce with our ambitions.
Indonesia is aiming to be a major regional aviation player by 2045. To get there, we need runways, yes—but we also need real-time insight into the professionals who keep us flying.
BPS has shown that it’s possible to build this kind of data system with dignity, equity, and national pride. Now, it’s time to apply those lessons skyward.
Let us count not just the number of aviation professionals—but the value they bring, the gaps they fill, and the future they make possible.
