On October 18, 2019, UFAZ Secretary-General Charlotte Payen represented UFAZ at the 6th annual SPE Annual Caspian Technical Conference focused on the digital transformation taking place in the oil and gas industry.

Moderated by Shauna Noonan, 2020 SPE President, General Secretary of UFAZ was invited as a speaker in the keynote panel session: New Generation Talent and Human Factor.

This panel involved several other speakers, including, BP HR Manager for GPO, RD and Strategy & Region Mehriban Ayyubova, Schlumberger HR Director to Workforce Planning and Talent Management Fabrice Bouchard, Baker Hughes ASPIRE Services Operation Emilya Mammadova. 

The purpose of this panel session was to examine and discuss how successful industries have adapted to the digital changes occurring in the energy sector, what has been achieved so far in this field what further changes will need to be made to harness the full potential of the new generation talent.

Charlotte Payen, only representative in the panel of the Higher Education Institutions (HEI), presented UFAZ as a case study in harnessing New Generation Talent for the Oil and Gas industry.

Elaborating on the perception of Higher Education Institutions of the current situation and its main challenges (interdisciplinary and cross competencies, general digitalization, greater needs for innovation and fast changing industry modelling new professions), Mrs. Payen mentioned in return the proposals defended by UFAZ to address those changes, in terms of academic programs and skills:

- Multidisciplinary of the curriculum vs. narrow specialization,

- IT modules throughout the program for all UFAZ specialties,

- Development of experimental skills through lab practice to foster intellectual autonomy,

- Enhance creative thinking through study projects, international competitions and development of new Research tools.

Last but not least, she laid the emphasis on the necessary dialogue with the companies, implying a new involvement of the companies ahead of the recruitment inside the training program of the universities (that should reflect and incorporate current trends in the OG industry), as well as a necessary change of paradigm in the recruitment strategy, inviting the companies to rather focus on general profiles with problem solving and crossed skills, autonomy & creative thinking.

SPE’s 6th annual Caspian Technical Conference successfully took place in Baku, Azerbaijan on October 16-18.

Over 500 industry professionals from 26 countries attended the conference and the event saw participation from key industry players including SOCAR, BP, TOTAL, Worley, Schlumberger, TCO, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Socar AQS, Equinor, and the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, to name a few.

Thanks to TOTAL Azerbaijan, 6 UFAZ L2 Oil and Gas students were invited to participate free of charge to this international conference that brings together for 3 days the key actors of the Oil and Gas industry.