Creation of a Graduate Certificate in Petroleum Data Management

Association of Association Executives

The Association of Association Executives supports employees and officers of associations to enhance their skills and knowledge and to improve their own performance as well as that of their association.

International
Kingston upon Hull, GB
www.associationexecutives.org

Success achieved

Website

https://cdal.com

Project dates

• Project development period with partner institution July 2013 – February 2017;
• Course commencement in September 2016

Project team

• Terry Alexander – Project Manager;
• Sakthi Norton – Data Manager;
• Malcolm Fleming – CEO/Project Sponsor

Tools & Systems

• Industry material providing context to the course
• Includes internal documents, videos, interviews, presentations, papers, standards, case studies, etc
• Held by CDA on Microsoft SharePoint, with a reference catalogue, accessible by RGU

Course Content

• RGU worked with CDA and SMEs to develop topics, review drafted content, and complete the academic validation process.
• Storyboarding sessions were done in person, and iterative content development and review utilised standard Microsoft Office tools.

Content on Moodle

• RGU published the final course lectures on their online ‘Moodle’ platform, as a purpose-built interactive presentation, a podcast, and notes. Students can access any combination of formats.
• There are also forum boards for each topic within modules, enabling interactive discussions and learning activities.

Interaction via Blackboard

• RGU utilized the ‘Blackboard’ virtual learning environment for live web chat sessions hosted by the lecturer, adding another layer of engagement and camaraderie amongst classmates.

Introduction

Common Data Access Ltd. (CDA), a subsidiary of Oil & Gas UK, facilitates the sharing of costs and benefits in collaboratively managing high-value oil and gas geotechnical data. Our members are organisations, including most UK North Sea oil and gas operators, as well as service companies and universities.

Since 2010, CDA has been leading a collaborative programme to establish Petroleum Data Management (PDM) as a recognised professional discipline. Having published a study expressing and quantifying the business value of reliable data and therefore its management (over 25% of business value created comes from geotechnical data), two challenges remained:

• Demonstrating and assuring the competency of individuals managing the data
• Attracting fresh talent into these roles.

A key element identified to address these challenges was the establishment of higher education qualifications, to support current practitioners and bring in new entrants to the industry and PDM discipline.

Having identified the requirements for a suitable academic course, we worked with the Robert Gordon University (RGU) to develop the content and establish the online Graduate Certificate in Petroleum Data Management, aiming to:

• Construct an academic course that meets the needs of members and the wider industry
• Recruit a minimum of 10 students in the first year

Discovery

CDA led a work group of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from member and non-member companies across industry, carrying out extensive research, development, and gathering of materials.

It was important to include non-members, as our members desired levelling and consistency across industry as well as transferable skills and competencies.

Key findings included the fact that there was no established definition or framework for PDM skills and competency, and that there was a lack of consistency in practices, terminology, and career structure for PDM roles.

This led to the development of a competency framework, which was carried out as a separate project, and led to the launch of a free online competency management system for PDM in 2014 (www.cdacompetency.com).

2010-2011 Background Review of:

• Existing work on competency in industry, within a wide range of companies and PDM organisations in the same/related disciplines (UK, Norway, and North America)
• Current PDM roles in industry
• DAMA Data Management Body of Knowledge (a recognised, non-industry specific framework) 

2011-2013 Competency Mapping:

• Definition of PDM
• Agreed principles, e.g. product/brand neutrality
• Two completely new competency matrices created for key PDM domains, each with 31 activities x 5 skill levels.

Objectives

1. To develop a relevant, accessible, and sustainable Graduate Certificate course in PDM.
2. To deliver a generation of academically qualified data managers that meets the needs of our membership and the wider industry.
3. To demonstrate the demand for academic qualifications in PDM and utilise this course as the foundation and catalyst for further development of PDM education.

Activities

The process of identifying the academic delivery partner included understanding development and delivery processes at various institutions, as well as understanding the academic quality frameworks governing all UK higher education programmes.

Once the academic partner had been selected we entered into an agreement for curriculum development. 

One of the key elements of this stage was identifying industry materials to support the delivery of the course, making it relevant to the industry, as opposed to purely generic theory and principles. This was also an important requirement for the institution, to de-risk their involvement by ensuring they had access to the resources required to deliver a product of high quality.

2013-2015 Curriculum Development

• Robert Gordon University (RGU) Aberdeen identified as academic delivery partner
• Initial expansion of competency matrices into course outlines meeting academic standards and industry needs
• Identification of supporting industry materials to flesh out and bring context to the course
• Major exercise to gather the above materials from members, other industry participants, and public sources (PDM Reference Collection)

The exercise to gather industry materials was a sub-project carried out over 18 months, involving a large group of members and other participants. It was critical to confirm that:

• Such materials exist and would be relevant to the course; 
• Could be released by the owner organisation; and 
• Could be provided within the required timeframe. 

The confirmation of industry support and commitment to this work was a critical project gate.

Throughout the process RGU had access to the materials being submitted, and could regularly report on how well the topic themes within the modules were supported by the collection of materials, until we reached a point where all themes were supported to a satisfactory level. During this process some additional topic themes were also identified. 

2016-2017 Course Development and Start

• Having established the curriculum and compiled supporting industry material, the project to develop the course could commence.
• RGU worked closely with SMEs to develop and ‘storyboard’ the topic contents and flow within and across the four modules (approx. 10 topics per module)
• Drafted content was reviewed iteratively by a pool of SMEs, to ensure factual accuracy and the spread of technical content being covered. 
• The first taught module started in September 2016, while content development and construction of later modules continued in parallel into February 2017.

Innovation

The specific methods used to develop and deliver the project are not new to project management nor to university courses. However, they are quite novel in this industry, particularly to the emerging PDM discipline.

Working with a University rather than a training company ensured that we developed a robust, relevant, and accredited education offering, in line with our strategic commitment to the development and professionalisation of the PDM discipline.

The combination of academic expertise with industry practitioner expertise resulted in a very relevant product. While partnerships between industry and academia are common, they tend to involve a small number of companies. CDA’s position as a membership organization, and its ability to call upon industry-wide expertise, brought a unique level of input to the development of a qualification that is relevant and beneficial to our entire membership and the industry as a whole. RGU were very receptive and engaged constructively with this volume of industry input.
 
The way the PDM reference collection was compiled was also unique. We asked industry to contribute relevant materials to support a targeted list of module topics, which could then be used by the lecturer for information, reference, and to bring real context to the taught content. The ongoing industry-academia relationship ensures the industry materials and course content remains relevant.

These factors present a unique twofold set of benefits to our membership – to the organisations as well as to the individuals within them.

Marketing

The market is diverse, with a large target audience of students. The challenge was to reach potential students as well as employers funding their studies, and also to reach those outside industry. A further challenge is the fact that PDM is an emerging discipline and is not as recognised as other established disciplines.

• From early 2016 we commenced marketing and recruitment, targeting three audiences:
• Current PDM practitioners and those transitioning from other roles within industry
• Employers of the above
• New entrants to industry

The strategy was to articulate the value of and business need for PDM, and therefore the benefits of PDM education – we provided consistent, compelling messages to inform our members’ business cases for undertaking the course or funding their employees to do so.

New entrants to industry were reached through RGU’s complementary marketing and networks.

Specific activities, with RGU support, included:

• Launch Event featuring the industry regulator
• Offer of four full scholarships
• Engaging promotional video
• Bespoke course information leaflet (print and digital)
• Articles in trade publications
• Presentations at multiple local and international industry events
• Use of social media (primarily LinkedIn)
• General awareness raising and promotion via members and professional networks

Throughout the development process our members were directly involved in or kept informed of progress, ensuring they were continuously on board and on message.

[CHALLENGES]

A major challenge was formalising an emerging discipline based on disparate practices, while demonstrating the business value of doing so. The extensive background research and development work by SMEs resulted in a completely new competency framework relevant across industry, which formed the basis of a new academic curriculum created through successful partnership with RGU.

The main challenge was not tools and technology, but processes and communication, i.e. ensuring both industry and academic parties understood each other’s requirements and expectations. The Education Consultant role identified and resourced by CDA to facilitate this aspect was key to success.

A further challenge was in the sub-project to compile industry materials to support course content, particularly in obtaining consent for internal materials to be released to the university. Assuring participants of the confidentiality and restricted distributed of their materials was a key success factor, along with realistic timelines and regular communication.

Achievements

Develop the course

Achieved: The course was developed to the agreed requirements, on time and to budget, and delivered with positive feedback from students, external examiners, and employers.

Deliver a generation of qualified practitioners

Ongoing: Initial feedback across our members and the wider industry shows a very positive reception, however, graduates will be contacted a year following completion of the course to quantify the success of this objective.

Demonstrate demand and leverage this course for other education offerings

Targets & Statistics

To recruit a minimum of 10 students onto the first course cohort (2016/17)

To run at least 5 cohorts over a five-year period (2016 – 2020)

Ongoing: The first cohort has been successfully delivered; the second cohort commenced in September 2017, with 21 students enrolled.

Financials

Development and promotion costs

• RGU: Academic services [contract financials confidential]
• Education Consultant role: Facilitation and project support services [contract financials confidential]
• CDA personnel: There were unquantifiable personnel resources contributed, from project manager to board level
• Scholarships: Four full scholarships for the 2016/17 intake, for students in financial hardship; total £11,760

Return

• This project is a significant element of CDA’s strategic objective for PDM to be developed and recognised as a discipline within the oil and gas industry, for the immediate and long-term benefit of our members.
• The project also brings a reputational enhancement within the industry, to be seen to be leading the PDM community towards professional status.

What would we do differently?

Clarify roles, responsibilities, and expectations from the outset. These need not be explicitly described within contractual agreements, but should be part of project planning. In this case there was a lack of experience in projects with this type of partnership, and some requirements were unforeseen. An example would be the process for SME review of course content, and making the reviewer role and expectations clearer – there was a trial and error period in the first module, from which a more efficient process was developed for the following modules.

We would also factor in a degree of unforeseen requirements during the allocation of time and resources for tasks, as in the example above. This will mitigate risks to critical path tasks with dependencies.

We would make more use of RACI to make explicit the level of engagement/intervention expected. An example where this would have been helpful from the outset is situations where the reporting of project progress was intended for information but interpreted as a request for intervention, causing duplication of effort.

In terms of marketing, we would chart the marketing milestones not just in terms of recruitment for the first cohort, but also for the following cohorts, e.g. graduation of Cohort 1 as a marketing opportunity for Cohort 2. With experience these processes can become more proactive than reactive.

Feedback & Testimonials

“I now have a better understanding of data model life cycles, governance and how to align data management with business needs. This has helped me improve our subsurface policies, procedures and guidelines.

My professional network has also grown. Having connections with like-minded data managers is so important for interaction and bouncing ideas around.”

Sheena Hickey (Student), TAQA Bratani

“The tutors are very supportive and the coursework is directly applicable to my current job. My research and academic writing has improved and I’ve learnt new skills as well. Being able to learn from fellow students has been very valuable and the distance learning has proved easy to fit around work and other commitments. Above all, I really appreciate formal recognition of my data management skills and experience.”

Lewis Faryma (Student), Apache North Sea

“This has been an exceptional example of collaboration between industry and academia. The member companies of CDA identified a growing demand for individuals who are competent at handling increasingly complex data requirements. By working together, we agreed on what would be needed to address current and future needs.

RGU showed great enthusiasm to work with us, and their experience in distance learning has been extremely beneficial, enabling students around the world to gain the qualification in the first year it was offered.

The feedback from the initial cohort of students has been very encouraging. We see a great opportunity to include this course in our professional development programme, and to continue to work with CDA to develop further courses to benefit our industry.”

George Rorie, Shell UK

“Several members of our team have reported enjoying the course and appreciating its convenient online delivery that helps to balance work and study. We are already beginning to see how they benefit from the knowledge they have gained to better understand our customers’ needs and this can translate into real business value on all sides.

We plan to encourage other team members to participate in the next iteration of this successful and beneficial course.”

Kerry Blinston, CGG Data Management Services