Digitization is a Top-Line Priority for the Oil & Gas Industry

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In search of competitive advantage for their organizations, oil and gas executives are now strongly investing in digital technologies. In the face of increasingly volatile market trends and associated operational challenges, digitization has become a top-line priority for Oil & Gas industry executives.

Broadly categorized, investments in digitization seek data-driven analysis and insights to achieve two primary goals:

Improve organizational efficiency
Optimize operational productivity

With a support network of over 10,000 oil and gas professionals, Ernst & Young's Global Oil & Gas Sector offers expert analysis on issues relevant to the sector. EY's 2020 Oil and Gas Digital Transformation and the Workforce Survey provide insightful statistics and major takeaways regarding current and future investment in digitization across the sector from the organizational perspective. The following article offers an insightful overview of O&G executives' digitization investment and implementation progress and goals from EY's 2020 survey.

Invest in Digital Tools Now

Oil & Gas operators cannot delay digitization any longer. Digitization is one of the major takeaways in EY's survey, which reports: "Ultimately, companies that haven't yet embraced digital implementation throughout the organization can no longer afford a cautious approach. The value that digital tools deliver is critical for survival in today's price environment."

Additional insights provided by EY's 2020 survey of O&G execs include:

A majority are increasing their investments in digitization
89% expect to increase digitization investments within the next two years, with 25% foreseeing a significant increase
48% reported organizational intent to increase investments in digitization as more capital becomes available

EY senior manager Kanishka Banerji explains, "Digital typically allows you to unlock upwards of 30% of the value within only a few years. When done right, a company is going to leapfrog what others are doing because of digital." Banerji adds, "It introduces new capabilities and allows you to work in new ways, unlocking significantly more value than you would get through traditional operational excellence or continuous improvement initiatives."

The Digital Future is in the Cloud

Digitization enables organizations to surmount specific challenges by utilizing data from a broad spectrum of integrated tools, often transmitted and accessed via cloud-based connections. Cloud-based technologies are leading the way to the digital future. A full 98% of Oil & Gas execs reported currently implementing cloud-based technologies. Also, 20% of respondents envision the cloud as the digital technology most significantly impacting how they do business over the coming five years.

Digitization via Service Providers

Investment choices employed for implementing oil and gas digitization were also queried in EY's survey. 9% of Oil & Gas execs reported working with startups, 17% are developing in-house capabilities, and 25% responded they are acquiring technology companies. However, the large majority (48%) of respondents invest in outside service providers to navigate their path to digitization. For this 48%, Aegex Technologies offers ‘Device as a Service’.

"I believe it's a healthy sign that companies recognize they don't need to develop everything in-house," notes Ioana-Andreea Ene, a Norway-based partner at EY.

Aegex Technologies Enables Digital Transformation

Aegex Technologies is a leading digital engineering and design services firm specializing in globally certified intrinsically safe solutions for Zone 1 industries. The aegex10TM Intrinsically Safe Tablet provides convenient mobile access to all aspects of digital operations for personnel working in ATEX/IECEx Zone 1 and C I, II, III D1 environments. In conjunction with aegex10 tablets, our intrinsically safe IoT platform, and cloud-based connectivity, we offer a full spectrum of customizable enterprise-class software and industry-specific applications forming the basis of digitized operations in potentially explosive environments.