SUBSEA FIBER CABLES THE ENABLER OF DIGITALIZATION OF THE OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY BY TRYGVE HAGEVIK
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any industry experts will argue that the offshore industry is lagging behind many comparable shorebased industries in terms of adoption of new technologies, implementation of Internet of Things applications and general digitalization processes. Whereas some may argue that this is mainly due to a conservative industry and a prevalent “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” type of attitude, one cannot ignore the IT and telecommunication challenges faced by the offshore players as a consequence of the remoteness and harshness of the environment in which they operate. Telecommunication is challenging for the offshore installations, and the prolonged period of high oil prices
up until three years ago has not been conducive to focusing on cost reductions and finding new and smarter ways of working. The offshore industry’s digital transformation is seemingly going to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. It is a conservative business where the adoption of new technologies and ways of working requires a certain fruition period – often prolonged by the necessary and stringent quality and safety policies. This is especially true if telecommunications is seen as a supporting function rather than an essential enabler for better ways of working. That said, developments in technologies such as cloud services, social media and
big data and analytics are driving trends that have tremendous potential for Oil and Gas. Cloud computing can improve business agility by breaking down silos of corporate business functions. Big data and analytics can help with innovation by supporting companies in gathering and interpreting large quantities of data from a variety of sources, enabling real-time decision making. Mobile technology enables new business scenarios, while various types of collaboration applications and even social media enhance relationships between various departments, suppliers and contractors - by making these connections quick, di-