“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” – CHARLES DARWIN
We exit 2018 and step into 2019 while looking at the plethora of opportunities ahead. There is a lot of focus on the digital transformation of the oil and gas industry. For several decades, the industry has not taken advantage of the opportunities derived from the meaningful use of data and technology. Data from a single rig can be in the range of several terabytes, yet only a fraction of that data is used for interpretationanddecisionmaking.Otherindustriesseemto havemadeadvancementsinrevolutionizingtheirbusinesses throughaholisticadoptionof digitaltechnologies.Observing their success, the oil industry is slowly realizing that digital transformation extends beyond Silicon Valley and is something that organizations need to adopt if they expect to survive in the next decade.
Trending digital technologies include:
- Big Data/Data Analytics
- Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
- Robotics/Drones
- Artificial Intelligence
- Cloud
- Blockchain
- Cybersecurity
Within the Gulf Coast Section we have initiated, and are aggressively promoting, the aforementioned digital technologies. Established in early 2017, the Data Analytics Study Group has been one of the most successful initiatives we have launched in the recent past. The Data Science Convention,whichwasorganizedbythisstudygroupinApril 2018, was a massive success and over 400 people attended. Going forward, this will be an annual event and this year’s edition will be held in April.
To address other digital technologies, we established the Digital Transformation Study Group in early 2018. This study group operates with the following principles:
- DRIVE the adoption of IIoT, big data, machine learning, and cybersecurity technologies (and others) to enable data-driven decision making, increasing industry efficiency through the fusion of operations and information
- SHARE carefully researched and qualified use cases that will help all industry players adopt best practices to connect, manage, and extract value from data, achieving improvements in terms of cost reductions, increased safety, added value, greater operational efficiency, and reduced environmental impact.
- GUIDE the industry toward understanding, leveraging, and protecting data as a critical enterprise
The Digital Transformation study group will be holding its inaugural annual congress in May 2019. The event will be a combinationof keynotes,panels,exhibitors,andatechpavilion where the attendees can get hands-on learning and real-world experience through live demonstrations of new technology.
We will keep exploring avenues to expand our technical offerings in the digital technology domain. I am hoping our membership will benefit from these offerings.
Happy New Year!