Wiernicki demystifies digital

ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki

ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki explored the transformational potential of digital technologies in the offshore industries at this year’s OTC event in Houston.Conference 2019.

“The digital oilfield is a complex ecosystem of technologies, structures, people and processes operating in harmony,” said Wiernicki, in a presentation entitled “Demystifying Digital.”

“The development and operation of offshore oilfields is being greatly enhanced by digital technologies through improved data collection, analysis and real-time decision making. Performance and predictive analytics made on data-in-motion can dramatically improve safety, reduce cost, and enhance operational visibility and decision support,” said Wiernicki. “Technologies have helped us evolve – working smarter, becoming more efficient and delivering stronger results – and will be pivotal on our ongoing journey to a cleaner and safer future.”

He emphasized that safety thinking must evolve and adapt to the changes introduced by digital technologies.

“Today, we live in a world where safety focuses on the systems we see and can touch. Tomorrow, safety will focus on the systems that we don’t see, such as software and data,” said Wiernicki. “Cyber and software will become the third leg of the safety stool, joining structure and machinery, adding a new dimension to an asset’s safety system and recognizing that software is the safety system no one sees.”

Wiernicki was joined on the panel by Clay Williams, Chairman, President and CEO, NOV; Jannicke Nilsson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Equinor; Greg Conlon, Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer, KBR, Inc. and Amr Elnashai, Vice Chancellor, Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer, University of Houston.