Microsoft demonstrates the power of AI and Cloud to Oil and Gas players, at ADIPEC 2018

Microsoft today demonstrated the power of digital transformation to the region’s Oil & Gas industry, as the company participated in the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) 2018.

Hosted by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, ADIPEC 2018 expects to welcome 110,000 patrons at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from 12 to 15 November.

ADIPEC has become a key event on the calendar of the global Oil and Gas industry, gathering stakeholders and specialists from multiple disciplines for the purposes of knowledge exchange and collaboration. Microsoft’s theme at this year’s event is “Empowering Oil & Gas with AI”. The company’s booth is dedicated to showcasing solutions around artificial intelligence and Internet of Things and highlight how they can enable digital transformation within the industry – the means to engage customers, empower employees, optimise operations and reinvent business processes and services.

Microsoft experts demonstrated Azure IoT Edge capabilities in action allowing energy companies to extend cloud intelligence and analytics, and bring these innovations to edge devices in the field. The platform allows the containerisation of cloud workloads such as Azure Cognitive Services, Machine Learning and Stream Analytics to run locally, on devices ranging from a Raspberry Pi to an industrial gateway. Low latency permits real-time actionability on the data gathered by field sensors. And security threats are mitigated by IoT Edge through measures designed around a wide array of risk profiles and deployment scenarios.

“Microsoft’s mission is to empower every individual and organisation on the planet to achieve more,” said Omar Saleh, Director Manufacturing and Resources, Middle East & Africa. “Artificial intelligence comes together with cloud and edge computing to allow real-time, agile, decision-making support regardless of location. Devices, software and communications technology act as participants in a single, intelligent, harmonious ecosystem that allows organisations to plan, react and optimize in smarter ways.  We are proud to bring these capabilities exhibited in solutions and showcases to ADIPEC 2018.”

Microsoft is also demonstrating the powerful, cloud-based support functions that serve Azure’s IoT Edge platform, including predictive maintenance, which enables equipment to be repaired in advance of failures, leading to greater operational uptime and significantly reduced costs. Other AI and IoT support benefits on display at Microsoft’s ADIPEC 2018 booth are remote monitoring, asset management, connected field services, and health and safety solutions building on AI and IOT.

“AI, leveraging of the intelligent cloud and edge computing, empowers efficiencies that provide distinctive competitive advantage for operators; these manifest in better reservoir characterization, optimized drilling, reduced downtime, and safer operations to mention a few”, added Saleh.

The company is also participating in important panel discussions and keynotes to discuss the importance of advanced technologies for the region’s oil and gas companies. Omar Saleh delivered a keynote address on ‘Digital Excellence in oil & gas building on AI’. Saleh also participated in a panel discussion to cover the topic of ‘Breaking boundaries with disruptive innovation: paving the way for the era of digitalization’. Patrik Sjoestedt, Regional Business Leader for Manufacturing & Resources Industry, Microsoft EMEA, shared insights in a panel discussion to address the rising cyber and infrastructure vulnerabilities of critical oil and gas assets. And Osama Tawfik, Industry Solutions Executive, Microsoft Saudi Arabia, discussed the importance of ‘Intelligent cloud – A springboard for industry 4.0’.

Following a significant surge in the demand for its cloud services in the region, Microsoft earlier this year announced it will make available its secure, flexible and intelligent cloud to regional customers through two dedicated cloud data centres, one in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi. These facilities will cater specifically to enterprises in the Middle East. Organizations in the region’s oil and gas sector can make the most out of the Microsoft Cloud by availing themselves of enterprise-grade reliability and performance, combined with data residency and the broadest compliance.

Microsoft also hosted a zone for its partners at its ADIPEC booth, where they showcased innovative industry solutions built on the Microsoft Azure Platform. Taqtile, showcased their platforms leveraging mixed reality, VR, and mobile solutions allowing operators and technicians to perform inspections, maintenance, and complex tasks.

Blackstone brought out their Asset Tracking and Resources Geofencing built on IOT, as well as their ChatBot virtual assistant along with other solutions such as EMO scanner, ID Validator and Predictive analytics. And DynaView demonstrated their innovations that help breach the siloes that exist between the drilling and geoscience communities by leveraging proprietary multi-threaded algorithmic computational analysis, comprehensive and multi-disciplinary data integration, and intelligent data visualization enabling predictive geo-steering and real time adjustment to well path and optimization of the well landing.