Here are the top four reasons why digitalization should be the highest priority – to increase competitiveness for both you and your company.

Deploying strategic digitalization projects is the process of creating real time data streams to enable better, faster decision making and execution. This means piloting solutions that enable operators to obtain and disseminate critical information directly at their workstation, paperless.

#1 Automation of Operations

Automation of operations will continue to grow every year. Surveillance, monitoring, remote operation, automated workflows, business processes, data integration and auto collection will minimize data entry, provide higher data quality, and lead to better decision making, increasing profits and productivity.

#2 – Mergers & Acquisitions

M & A can open the door to digital transformation because both share one thing in common: changes to nearly every aspect of the business. If properly planned, they can take place concurrently, saving valuable time and money.

In addition, companies unsure how to navigate a digital transformation may target a potential acquisition based on the sophistication of their data, systems and processes. By leveraging the acquisition or merger, they gain updated IT systems, reducing the costs and activities associated with a “square one” transformation.

Similarly, employees who have working knowledge of digitalized data and systems also have a competitive edge over those who do not.

#3 – Business Intelligence (BI), Business Analytics (BA), Machine Learning (ML) & Artificial Intelligence (AI)

A lack of tools, data skills in IT, and constraints associated with siloed data are key barriers to digitalization.

Data management starts with good, structured data and sound practices to manage semi and unstructured data, which feed data warehouses. Without quality data and/or access to a data warehouse, the ability to harness the full power of your data utilizing BI, BA, ML, AI will be beyond your reach.

Companies that continue to rely on Excel to manage complex oil and gas operations will find that the retirement of aging assets, in the absence of quality records, will prove very costly in the end.

In the past, proper data management took the back seat while the industry focused on the task at hand – drill baby drill! But, times are changing and we see a new appreciation for quality data and good record keeping.

There is also movement away from historical data silos. Having good data interoperability standards in place allows for easier access to, and integration with, many of these data silos.

The future is bright, and a well-defined digital data strategy can enable operators to build advanced analytics solutions into their operations, providing insights in real-time to make better decisions.

#4 – Industry 4.0 Technologies

What began with computer programming in the 3^rd Industrial Revolution, continues with the digital transformation of the manufacturing/production sector and related industries. The 4^th Industrial Revolution, commonly known as Industry 4.0, is laser focused on value creation processes and smart technologies.

Robotic Process Automation, Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) all have the potential to significantly reduce, or even eliminate, human involvement. So where does that leave humans?

The good news is that work is well underway to develop a “human-centred economic growth model” that aims to ensure that the technological progress of the 21st century augments human potential and employment around the world rather than substituting them.

Are you looking far enough into the future? Isn’t it about time for a better solution?