From the Chairman: IADC seizing initiative to move forward
IADC’s key focus should be helping members improve performance. But first, we need to improve our own. Those are the conclusions of the research that IADC staff conducted during the first half of the year at the direction of the Executive Committee.
IADC has a long history of evolving and growing to support the industry’s evolution. We’ve made great strides in the past 20 years in becoming more internationally visible, offering a strong suite of conferences and producing valued resources – including this magazine. The research showed that IADC is a highly respected organization that is a source of industry expertise and tools members see as essential.
That’s the good news. The other good news – and the challenge – is that members want and expect us to do more: to provide leadership and a voice on critical issues, to recognize and serve an increasingly global and diverse membership, and to seize the initiative instead of reacting to issues.
We have started on the path to achieve these goals, and I am confident that we will be successful.
A key step in the process has been bringing Stephen Colville on board as IADC president and CEO. He brings both broad energy industry expertise and a great deal of strategic clarity to the task. It has also been great to see the high degree of input from members, as well as from operators, service and equipment providers, and other industry groups.
We identified five areas where members want IADC to support performance: attraction/retention/competency of personnel; operational integrity, including both process safety and human factors; the balance and allocation of risk between contractors and operators; ownership and reliability of critical equipment; and appropriate advocacy on legislation and regulation.
Our strategy, our “way forward,” is in the detailed planning phase now, and we will be making key decisions at the November Executive Committee meeting. But you are already seeing one forward step in the initiation of the KSA project. As we announced in June and described in the July/August issue of Drilling Contractor, the KSA project is an ambitious initiative to develop worldwide competency guidelines for virtually every rig position, building from our existing Knowledge, Skills and Abilities template. These guidelines will help members evaluate rig workers’ competency using a consistent industrywide benchmark.
As we detail and begin to implement the specific steps toward our goals, you will hear more about them, and I hope you will be part of making them happen.
The five-year vision is of an organization that is regarded by members and key stakeholders as the “go-to” organization for the drilling and completions industry, and recognized by members as having been a catalyst for improved performance of the industry as a whole, as well as companies and individuals within the industry.
We want to be able to look back five years from now and realize that we have truly contributed to resolving members’ critical issues and advocated effectively on their behalf. We also want to be seen as a truly international organization and the preeminent body for accreditation and certification in the industry.
We have set an ambitious agenda. With our strong and dedicated staff and the support and involvement of our members, IADC will successfully accomplish this agenda for the benefit of our industry and all our stakeholders. I encourage you to help us make it happen. Join a committee, share your ideas and be part of taking IADC to the next level.
