In recent years, there has been a great deal of discussion surrounding the benefits and opportunities presented by digitalization in the oil and gas industry. However, little has been written on the slow adoption of digital solutions in O&G and some of the challenges facing operators. This paper aims to address these topics by outlining some of the primary barriers the industry faces as it forges ahead with Industry 4.0. Particular challenges that will be discussed include cybersecurity, the human resources / talent shortage, and a need for operators industry-wide to adapt their culture and business models to create an environment that fosters innovation, collaboration, and readily adopts news ways of working.

The paper will also look forward at potential future applications of digitalization in oil and gas, including how artificial intelligence (AI) and other ‘next frontier’ technologies have the potential to help operators unlock hidden value in untapped assets through acquisition and analysis of more data.

Keywords:
upstream oil & gas, threat, adoption, information, cyber attack, data scientist, digital solution, cybersecurity, digital transformation, new technology
Subjects:
Security, Information Management and Systems, Data and communications security, Data security
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2018. Offshore Technology Conference
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