 From around the globe, it's theCUBE with digital coverage of AWS re-invent Executive Summit 2020 sponsored by Accenture and AWS. Welcome everyone to theCUBE virtual's coverage of the Accenture Executive Summit part of AWS re-invent 2020. I'm your host, Rebecca Knight. We are talking today about re-inventing the energy data platform. We have two guests joining us. First, we have Johann Krebbers. He is the GM Digital Emerging Technologies and VP of IT Innovation at Shell. Thank you so much for coming on the show, Johann. You're welcome. And next we have Liz Dennett. She is the lead solution architect for OSDU on AWS. Thank you so much, Liz. Happy to be here. So I want to start our conversation by talking about OSDU. Like so many great innovations, it started with a problem. Johann, what was the problem you were trying to solve at Shell? Yeah, I have to go back a couple of years. We started summer 2017 where we had a meeting with the gas exploration in Shell and the main problem they had, of course, they got lots and lots of data but are unable to find the right data they need to work from. Of course, the data was scattered, they needed scattered, but it was scattered all over the place. And so they will probably try to solve this how that person working exploration could find their proper data, not just the data, but also the data they really needed. That's what we probably talked about in summer 2017. And we said, okay, the only way we see this moving forward is to start pulling that data into a single data platform. And that was at the time that we called it SDU, the Subservice Data Universe. That was what the Shell name was. So in January 2018, we started a project with Amazon to start creating and configuring the building that SDU environment, that Subservice Data Universe. So that single data platform to pull all the exploration and wealth data into that single environment. That was intent. And then we said already in March of that same year, we said, well, from a Shell point of view, we would be far better off if we could make this an industry solution and not just a Shell solution because Shell will be, if we can make this an industry solution where people are developing applications for it, it also is far better than for Shell to say we haven't Shell special solution because we don't make money out of how we store the data. We can make money out of we have access to the data, how we can exploit the data. So storing the data, we should do as efficiently as we possibly can. So in March, we reached out to about eight or nine other large gas operators like the Echonauts, like the Tautiles, like the Chefs of this world and say, hey, we in Shell are doing this. Do you want to join this effort? And to our surprise, they all said, yes. And then in September of 2018, we had our kickoff meeting with the open group where we said, okay, if you want to work together with lots of other companies, we also need to look at, okay, how we organize that? Of course, if you start working with lots of large companies, you need to have some legal framework around it. So that's why we went to the open group and said, okay, let's form the ODU forum, as we call it at the time. So in September, 2018, where I had the Galleria in Houston, but the kickoff meeting for the ODU forum with about 10 members at the time. So that's just over two years ago, we started this exercise formally called ODU, so that's really where we come from and how we got there also. The origin story. So digging a little deeper there, what were some of the things you were trying to achieve with the OSDU? Well, a couple of things we tried to achieve with the OSDU. First is really separating data from applications. But what is the biggest problem we have in the subsurface space that the data applications are all interlinked, they're all tied together. And if you have then a new company coming along and say, I have this new application and these access to the data, then it's not possible because the data is often interlinked with the application. The first thing we did is really breaking the link between the application and the data out there. So that was the first thing we did. Secondly, put all the data to a single data platform, take the silos out, because what was happening in the subsurface space and that you had all the data in what we call silos in small little islands out there. So what we're trying to do is first break the link to create, put the data in a single data platform. And the third part, the standard layer on top of that, the seven API layer on top of the created platform. So we could create an ecosystem out of companies to start developing software application on top of that data platform, because you might have a data platform, but you're only successful if you have a rich ecosystem of people start developing applications on top of that. And then you can explore the data like small companies, large companies, university, you name it, but you have to create an ecosystem out there. So the three things was first break the link between application and data, just break it and put data at the center and also make sure that data, this data structure would not be managed by one company where it will be managed to data structures by the OD forum. Secondly, then put the data single data platform. Thirdly, then have the API layer on top and then create an ecosystem, really go for people say, please start developing applications because now they had access to the data because the data no longer linked to somebody's application was all freely available for the API layer. That was all September 2018, more or less. Liz, I want to bring you in here a little bit. Can you talk a little bit about some of the imperatives from the AWS standpoint in terms of what you were trying to achieve with this? Yeah, absolutely. And this whole thing, as Johann said, started with a challenge that was really brought out at Shell. The challenges that geoscientists spend up to 70% of their time looking for data. I'm a geologist. I've spent more than 70% of my time trying to find data in these silos. And from there, instead of just figuring out how we could address that one problem, we work together to really understand the root cause of these challenges. And working backwards from that use case, OSDU and OSD1 AWS has really enabled customers to create solutions that span not just this in particular problem, but can really scale to be inclusive of the entire energy value chain and deliver value from these use cases to the energy industry and beyond. Thank you, Johann. So talk a little bit about Accenture's cloud-first approach and how it has helped Shell work faster and better with speed. Well, of course, Accenture's cloud-first approach really works together with the Amazon environment, the AWS environment. We really look at Accenture and Amazon together helping Shell in this space. Now, the combination two is what we're really looking at where Accenture, of course, can bring business knowledge to that environment, operate support knowledge to an environment. And of course, Amazon will be doing this environment, the underpinning services, et cetera. So we really expect of that combination, a lot of goods, when we start rolling out in production, the OSDU R3 environment, because we, our aim is when the release fee comes to the market in Q1 next year of OSDU. And we really start rolling that out in production inside Shell, but it's the first OSDU release, which is ready for primetime production across an enterprise. Well, we released R1 just before Christmas last year, released two in May of this year, but release fees, the first release we're going to use for full-scale production and deployment inside Shell and also other operators around the world. And there is what Amazon, sorry, there what Accenture can play a role in the ongoing, in the deployment, building up, but also support environment. So one of the other things that we talk a lot about here on theCUBE is sustainability. And this is a big imperative at so many organizations around the world, in particular energy companies. How does this move to OSDU help organizations become, how is this a greener solution for companies? Well, first we make, it's a greener solution because you start making much more efficient use of your resources, which is really important one. The second thing we're doing is also, we started with OSDU in very much in the oil and gas space, in the expert development space, but we've grown OSDU, but in our strategy, we've grown OSDU, now also to an alternative energy source. OSDU will also start supporting next year things like solar farms, wind farms, the geothermal environment, hydrogen. So it becomes an open energy data platform, not just for the oil and gas industry, but for any type of industry, any type of energy industry. So our focus is to create, bring the data of all those various energy data sources to get into a single data platform. So you can use AI and all the technology on top of that to exploit the data to bring together the single data platform. Liz, I want to ask you about security because security is such a big concern when it comes to data. How secure is the data on OSDU? Actually, can I talk, can I do a follow-up on the sustainability talking for real? Oh, absolutely, by all means. I mean, I want to interject though, security is absolutely our top priority. I don't mean to move away from that, but with sustainability, in addition to the benefits of the OSDU data platform, when a company moves from on-prem to the cloud, they're also able to leverage the benefits of scale. Now, AWS is committed to running our business in the most environmentally friendly way possible. And our scale allows us to achieve higher resource utilization and energy efficiency than a typical on-prem data center. Now, a recent study by 451 Research found that AWS's infrastructure is 3.6 times more energy efficient than the median of surveyed enterprise data centers. Two thirds of that advantage is due to higher server utilization and a more energy efficient server population. But when you factor in the carbon intensity of consumed electricity and renewable energy purchases, 451 found that AWS performs the same task within 88% lower carbon footprint. Now, that's just another way that AWS and OSDU were working to support our customers as they seek to better understand their workflows and make their legacy businesses less carbon intensive. Those statistics are incredible. Do you want to talk a little bit now about security? Absolutely. And security will always be AWS's top priority. In fact, AWS has been architected to be the most flexible and secure cloud computing environment available today. Our core infrastructure is built to satisfy the security requirements for the military, global banks and other high sensitivity organizations. And in fact, AWS uses the same secure hardware and software to build and operate each of our regions so that customers benefit from the only commercial cloud that's had hit service offerings and associated supply chain vetted and deemed secure enough for top secret workloads. That's backed by a deep set of cloud security tools with more than 200 security compliance and governmental service and key features as well as an ecosystem of partners like Accenture that can really help our customers to make sure that their environments for their data meet and or exceed their security requirements. Johan, I want you to talk a little bit about how OSD you can be used today. Does it only handle subsurface data? Today it underserves the wealth data. We go to add to that production around the middle of next year. That means that the whole upstream business, so if you look at the upstream business goes from exploration all the way to production, you bring it together into a single data platform. So production will be added around Q3 of next year. Then in principle, we have a typical, the elder data single environment and we want to extend it then to other data sources or energy sources like solar farms, wind farms, hydrogen, hydro, et cetera. So we want to add a whole list of other day energy sources to that and bring all the data together into a single data platform. So we move from an all in guess data platform to an energy data platform. That's really what our objective is because the whole industry, if you look at our companies all moving in that same direction, of course, you of course are very strong in all in guess, but also increasingly going to other energy sources like solar, like wind, like hydrogen, et cetera. So we move exactly with the same method that the whole OSDU can really support that whole energy spectrum of energy sources, of course. And Liz and Johan, I want you to close this out here by just giving us a look into your crystal balls and talking about the five and 10 year plan for OSDU. We'll start with you, Liz. What do you see as the future holding for this platform? Honestly, the incredibly cool thing about working at AWS is you never know where the innovation and the journey is going to take you. I personally am looking forward to work with our customers wherever their OSDU journeys take them, whether it's enabling new energy solutions or continuing to expand to support use cases throughout the energy value chain and beyond, but really looking forward to continuing to partner as we innovate to slay tomorrow's challenges. Johan? Yeah, first, nobody can look that far ahead anymore nowadays, especially 10 years, I mean, who knows what happens in 10 years? But if you look what our whole objective is, that really in the next five years, OSDU really become the key backbone for energy companies for store your data, new artificial intelligence and optimize the whole supply, the energy supply chain in this world out there. Johan Kruber's Liz Dennett, thank you so much for coming on theCUBE Virtual. Thank you. Thank you. I'm Rebecca Knight, stay tuned for more of our coverage of the Accenture Executive Summit.