Shell's TechTonic 2018 Deliberates on Digitalisation in the Oil & Gas Industry

BENGALURU, August 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

A wave of digitalisation is sweeping through the oil & gas industry. From supermajors to small independent operators, new digital solutions are being implemented in areas as diverse as geological surveying, drilling and refining. The result is significant efficiency gains and cost savings. It is with this intent that Shell recently organised the second edition of its annual tech community event 'TechTonic' 2018 at the Shell IT Hub in Bengaluru, the largest IT hub for Shell globally. TechTonic is focused on inspiring learning about the entire hydrocarbon value chain of Shell, sparking new ideas through panel discussions, quiz competitions and masterclass sessions, and engaging the rich supplier and partner ecosystem.

The theme of this year's event was 'Digitalisation'. Jay Crotts, Executive Vice President and Group CIO, Royal Dutch Shell and Mr. Nitin Prasad, Chairman, Shell Companies in India, were keynote speakers at the event and spoke about 'Digitalisation' and Shell's vision for the coming year. This was followed by a panel discussion on Digitalisation in Energy Industry with a special focus on Innovative Models in Digital Talent Development to enlighten the employees on the process and its advantages. The panel comprised of industry experts such as Rich McAvey, Gartner's Research VP for the oil & gas industry, Gopal Chettri, Senior VP & Business Leader at CGI, and Deepa Bachu, Co-founder and CEO at Pensaar. The panel was moderated by Alisa Choong, VP and CIO, Shell's Projects & Technology.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Nitin Prasad, Chairman, Shell Companies in India, said, "Our purpose in Shell India is to - Power progress for more and cleaner energy solutions through our people, partnerships and innovations for India and the world. Our stakeholders in society have an expectation that we will understand and adopt digitalization, which is at the heart of the energy transition to become a company that effectively leverages the next generation of energy technology and solutions. It is a vision today that shall become our future; not just in the context of Shell and Shell in India but our future as a country. This year's theme - Digitalization - is a continuation of our commitment to an environment conducive to learning, collaboration and technology. It is also in line with our aim of meeting the energy needs of society in economically, socially and environmentally viable ways."

TechTonic encourages all of Shell IT Bangalore Hub's 3000+ employees, other Shell entities and Shell's technology partners to showcase their projects, achievements, and innovative energy-industry-IT solutions through interactive booths. These booths showcased tools including Agile - a project management tool that helps manage workstreams and information flow, SAP integration in Shell's digitalisation journey, cloud computing capabilities in Shell and Shell's efforts towards process automation, among several others. InQUIZitive, a quiz competition on Shell's Business, Digitalisation & General Knowledge, was also held and moderated by Craig Walker - VP & CIO Downstream. Four employee teams battled it out, of which one team emerged victorious.

Rich McAvey, Gartner's Research VP for the oil & gas industry, also took a masterclass on the topic of Digital Transformation & Future of Work in Oil and Gas. The masterclass focused on how business leaders can use digital technologies to optimize performance and how CIOs must change IT to remain relevant and impactful.

Joseph C Campbell, T-System's Co-Chief Technical Officer and Head of Account Innovation, took a masterclass on the topic of IoT Edge - Technologies for Digitalisation. The masterclass covered how digitalisation would transform the landscape of the energy industry, refineries and many aspects within.

Initiatives such as TechTonic and Shell's increasing focus towards expanding its in-house IT expertise over the last decade is a testimony of the importance of digital ecosystems for driving the next leap of progress in the energy world.  Mr. Jay Crotts, EVP and Group CIO, Royal Dutch Shell said, "As a company, Shell has always relied on innovation in engineering as well as digital technologies to drive growth and efficiency across its operations. This digital agenda has been at the forefront of our thinking for years- from automation of oil field [production] to the engagement with our end-customers. I believe the digital agenda gives us a platform for standards that allow us to execute business processes cheaper than we have ever done before."

Mr. Arun Padmanabhan, VP - IT, Shell, Bangalore, added, "When we started TechTonic in 2017, we had a clear focus on technology, community and learning. The event made us collectively realize the value delivery and impact we are having from all the IT locations globally and the Bangalore IT hub in particular. We retained that focus for this year and centered around the theme of digitalization - an area where IT plays a critical enabling role. TechTonic 2018 was an outstanding platform for us to drive the needed awareness and learning across the community and help staff keep up with the digitalization shift for value delivery. TechTonic will continue to remain an integral part of the IT Function and the India calendar of events."

Since its inauguration in 2017, TechTonic, which has become an integral part of the annual calendar of Shell India, has helped increase the interest and enthusiasm towards utilizing technology to find more and cleaner energy solutions and help drive sustained value and growth for Shell and for India.

Shell in India 

Shell is one of the most diversified international energy company in India with over 7000 employees, 200,000 retail customers and a 250 - strong distribution network. It brings world-class energy solutions across traditional, new energies and its derivatives including crude oil, refined products, chemicals and technology to individuals and enterprises. India is recognized as one of Royal Dutch Shell's innovation hubs globally. It is home to world class centres hosting operations, information technology and innovation mandates in Bangalore and Chennai that are creating value for Shell and India. The company is nurturing a vibrant ecosystem in India to accelerate energy innovations with the Shell E4 programme for startups, Shell Eco-marathon and investments in companies like Husk Power that are expanding access to energy. Shell remains committed to making positive contributions to the communities in which we operate through our NXplorer that promotes the pursuit of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, Access to Energy and Road Safety across India.

Follow @shell_India @makethefuture @shell_ecomar to know how we are redefining the energy space.

Media Contact:
Samikhya Patra
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Account Executive, Edelman India