Woodside boosts focus on data

Resources company Woodside has created a new C-level position to take charge of data within the organisation.

“We see data as an asset and therefore needs to managed accordingly,” a spokesperson for Woodside told Computerworld. “The chief data officer is a key role in ensuring this.”

The company has begun recruiting for the position and is accepting applications.

“This is a newly created position integral to Woodside’s digital transformation and will require an outstanding individual capable of managing a wide range of stakeholder needs and a rapidly changing technology landscape,” recruitment documents state.

Woodside is known to have employed IBM’s cognitive computing platform, Watson, to help boost the efficiency of its refineries.

“We are pioneering the application of advanced analytics and cognitive computing in our operations to leverage our collective knowledge and to support operational excellence,” the company’s most recent annual report explained.

“Data is at the core of the way Woodside works from our daily operations right through to our future technology programs like data science and artificial intelligence,” the company’s spokesperson said.

“We’re looking for a chief data officer who will provide leadership to champion the creation of value and the safeguarding of our operations from data right across the organisation.”

Woodside says it is seeking an executive with significant experience in a business management operational environment — “ideally in an oil and gas, legal, financial, information or IT management industry”.

Recent experience “at or near executive level” will be an asset for candidates and “strategic technology planning experience” is essential, Woodside said.