Tuesday 19 March 2013

CDA Profiles Data Management Discipline to Enable Professional Accreditation

Common Data Access Limited (CDA), the UK oil and gas industry’s shared data management service which delivers subsurface information to exploration and production companies, is leading an international project to pilot a web-based competency profiling system aimed at achieving professional recognition for the data management discipline.

The pilot aims to test and improve the detailed competencies map developed through CDA by oil company and contractor data management specialists over the past two years and use it to develop competency benchmarks that assist in the recruitment, evaluation of skills and career development of data managers. CDA will ensure that the competency map is closely aligned with related international initiatives around data management education.

Malcolm Fleming, chief executive, CDA, said:”One of the most effective ways for the industry to maintain competitiveness in a maturing basin like the UK continental shelf, where every effort must be made to maximise the recovery of oil and gas, is to find ways to increase exploration success and reduce risk. In a recent report on data management, independent research revealed  that 70 per cent of the value generated by the exploration and production activities of oil companies relies on their understanding of the subsurface. It is therefore crucial that the industry promotes the professionalisation of data managers to support their colleagues in geoscience and engineering disciplines with an effective and internationally recognised quality of service.”

The system being piloted, with more than 100 participants from 10 countries, allows data managers to build a profile of their competency in well and geophysical data management, via a web-based application, and have it verified by their professional peer group. The aim is to establish a common framework for certifying data management skills attained with a view to defining a global industry professional standard. Anyone wishing to find out more about the pilot, which will close at the end of May 2013, is invited to contact CDA at info@cdal.com.

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