Advanced technologies and disruptive innovation are vital to help meet future global energy needs. In a recent bid to revolutionize the oil and gas industry through innovation, Shell India organised in its Bangalore IT Hub, Techtonic 2017 – focused on catalyzing the development and deployment of innovative IT solutions and technologies that are essential for transforming energy business practices in the digital world.  Techtonic 2017 was Shell India’s first and largest IT forum and was aimed at engaging and collaborating with employees and industry experts to understand and adopt the defining trends & initiatives of the global digital wave, for the energy industry.

The objective of Techtonic 2017 was to recognise and understand digital solutions that are not only essential for competitive strength but also play a vital role in accelerating business success. Techtonic encouraged all of Shell IT Bangalore Hub’s 2000+ employees and Shell’s event technology partners such as Accenture, Microsoft, CGI and IBM to showcase their projects, achievements, and innovative energy-industry-IT solutions. For example, Accenture presented the concept of a fuel station of the future in which a customer interacts with the fuel station, places his order and obtains other customer services all through a mere mobile application.

Techtonic also comprised of skill development programs on new-age game-changing concepts for Shell’s employees such as masterclasses on Blockchain, Energy Transition Program, New energy systems, Waste to energy technology and Internet of things (IoT). It also saw the culmination and felicitation of two employee innovation competitions – Ideation Challenge and Datapalooza – that had all of the hub’s employees engaged in a creative innovation battle. Ideation challenge, wherein the winning idea gets to be endorsed and funded by the group’s global CIO had employees ideating in different categories such as business IT strategic asks, emerging technologies and cost saving levers. The winning idea had a high business applicability and impact –  Blockchain and NFC (Near Field Communication) tags to prevent counterfeiting of lubricants. Datapalooza, a Microsoft Power BI Visualization-based Hackathon that fosters thinking, promotes innovation and encourages experimental business ideas among employees, had 5 teams win out of an overwhelming number of 148 participants and solutions that cut-across the integrated energy footprint of Shell.

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.  Commenting on the occasion, Jay Crotts, Group CIO – Shell, said, “We brought together our largest IT group in Shell for a day long event that left me feeling confident about accelerating the digital journey in Shell. The delivery we are seeing from our colleagues here in Bangalore is truly world class.”

Speaking on the occasion, Nitin Prasad, Chairman – Shell India, said, “In India and world over, we are witnessing fundamental changes in the energy markets and the type of energy solutions required. Shell has an incredible legacy of being one of the first companies that laid the foundation of India’s intricate energy ecosystem and went on to play a significant role in developing its energy infrastructure. Our intention now is to play a similarly pivotal role in the digital transformation and technological advancement of India’s energy industry, because we believe, digital and technological innovation are as essential as collaboration in helping India meet its future energy demands. The Techtonic 2017, our largest initiative in the Indian digital space, owing to its spirit of innovation and learning, provides for a platform to collaborate and deliver on this commitment of ours. I am confident that the digital solutions that our 2000+ ingenious employees of the Bangalore IT hub generate, shall go on to play a critical role in providing the more and cleaner energy solutions that tomorrow’s India and world need.”