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enables experienced employees to share their expertise through this emerging medium.

Driving collaboration through social media and other

Understanding the tools generates signifcant

Automation business value by improving the way knowledge is created, accessed, shared and used. changing workforce

From routine tasks to special projects, social collabora- hostile locations. This shifts the focus mobile devices, present opportunities for tion transcends geographical

Social collaboration brings to unconventional exploration tech- creating a more connected workplace. boundaries. It captures the context to data and helps niques that require the support of digital Considering that oil and gas projects typi- tacit knowledge of experienced technologies and extensive technical cally include geographically dispersed employees by motivating them fnd experts. Tom Franklin expertise. However, fnding the talent stakeholders, a social collaboration to contribute through intuitive reports.

with experience in new technologies and platform can help discover, capture and and easy-to-use platforms. At unconventional production techniques is share tacit knowledge more effectively the same time, it offers a new lobal integration in the oil and not a simple task. from a dwindling workforce. -generation employees access gas industry is bringing about Taking a quick look, it is easy to see As mentioned, studies show 40-60% of to collaborative technologies,

G changes in the nature of its the current education system does not current employees (mainly geoscientists which allow them to leverage workforce and operations. support the growing need for skilled and petroleum engineers) are planning the knowledge ecosystem for

With potentially 50% of the workforce resources. People graduating as geologists to retire in the next 5-10 years. They faster integration within the likely to retire in the next 5-7 years, every year, from universities across the also show there is a considerable gap enterprise. Such technologies there are concerns about losing valu- globe, form only a miniscule percentage in experience between the retiring and also help to create a network of able expertise. Add on top of that the of graduates compared to other disci- the incoming workforce. About 20% of support through communities changing nature of work as companies plines like law, medicine and engineer- the industry has fewer than fve years of practice and to connect com- explore more remote and harsh envi- ing. Therefore, oil and gas companies of experience, and the average age of panies with academic institu- ronments to enhance production. This should either train new hires or recruit exploration and production company tions to prepare students even requires advanced technological skills personnel from other countries to bridge employees is 50 years. What does this before they enter the industry. often held by just a few experienced this gap. Industry players remain chal- mean for oil and gas companies? The A key step in adopting social employees. Also, with businesses becom- lenged to train these employees quickly Talent and Technology study from SPE collaboration is to focus on ing global, oil and gas companies need to maintain productivity. Effective estimates such loss of expertise could choosing an enabling technol- to contend with changing government knowledge management and collabora- result in losses amounting to US$40 ogy, or building a service line to create regulations that demand local resources tion is not only critical to bridge these billion. Moreover, 20-30% of drilling the right platform.

In with the new

Timely access to the right data, informa- tion and expertise is one of the strongest drivers for social collaboration in the oil and gas industry. The amount of data — which is mostly unstructured in nature — is growing due to the rising complex- ity of technology. Therefore, a good part The key capabilities of an ideal social collaboration platform. Images from Tata Consultancy Services.

of an engineer’s time is spent gathering data and information rather than analyz- to ensure smooth operations in remote gaps and prevent loss of critical exper- effciency could be lost once experienced ing it. Downtime ends up largely attrib- environments. tise, but it is also necessary to build new drillers hand over operations to their uted to the diffculty in fnding correct

In a knowledge-intensive industry, all competencies. replacements. information in a timely manner.

these changes pose big challenges for A more connected workplace that To further complicate matters, the Although typical content management employee retention, engagement, training enables an easy exchange of information industry is undergoing changes with initiatives provide the means to manage and productivity. is a business imperative. regard to locations explored, methods data, they do not enable contextualiza-

There is, however, an answer. By applied and products churned out tion. They fall short of a comprehen-

Social collaboration taking a more holistic view of multiple (conventional oil versus unconventional sive knowledge management platform. dimensions involving people, processes While, it would be easy to say this is just oil). New and complex techniques, as Traditional enterprise content manage- and technology, it is possible to create a a human resources issue, it is important well as experiential knowledge and ment (ECM) systems are driven by enter- more collaborative and productive work to address the issue from a business best practices, must be understood by prise taxonomy and capture knowledge environment. perspective. The solution starts with new hires and other stakeholders across that is possible to document. These

The consumerization of IT and trends understanding the needs of “digital geographies. systems are not well equipped to tap into like BYOD (bring your own device), natives” entering the organization who In addition, the need to fnd new oil unstructured sources such as emails, combined with the widespread preva- are comfortable with social networking reserves has driven companies to explore instant messaging and other sources of lence of social networking platforms and tools, and providing an environment that and operate in harsh, remote and even tacit information. Moreover, ECM works

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