Forum - Social networking and online collaboration in the oil and gas industry. “He, who owns the information, owns the world.” This famous phrase by Winston Churchill might sound like a cliché, but it is particularly relevant today. “The most important, and indeed the truly unique, contribution of management in the 20th century was the 50-fold increase in the productivity of the manual worker in manufacturing. The most important contribution management needs to make in the 21st century is similarly to increase the productivity of knowledge work and the knowledge worker,” said author Peter Drucker back in 1959. This was when the term “knowledge worker” was defined. Also, the third wave of human socioeconomic development is described in the book The Fifth Generation Management (Savage, 1996) as the Age of Knowledge. Web 2.0 and social networking platforms have revolutionized the way we collaborate and communicate with others. One prominent example of a social network service is, of course, Facebook, which boasts some 350 million users. To put that community size in perspective, if Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s third largest, superseded only by China and India. In addition, online forums allow hundreds and thousands of people to unify their efforts to discuss and solve problems. Video snippets are recorded and uploaded to YouTube. Groups are formed on Facebook unifying people with similar interests across the world. Wikipedia is growing by the minute and contains more than 15 million articles in 270 languages, with all of the content written collaboratively by unpaid Internet volunteers.

Forum - Young professionals speak out on energy education. For this article, The Way Ahead addressed one of the most challenging topics for professionals in the oil and gas industry: public energy education. When oil prices peaked at USD 147/bbl in 2008, everyone felt the crunch. Food prices spiked and transportation costs rose. Global warming and the environmental impact of energy use took center stage in the public debate. Yet, media coverage, public debate, and politicians still seem to lack a fundamental understanding of where energy comes from, the costs and trade-offs related to different energy sources, technological and geographic constraints, and the hard choices that lie ahead. This article illustrates that industry professionals feel a responsibility to educate their friends, family, and neighbors, and students of all ages about energy.

Forum Experienced professionals evaluate technical vs. managerial careers. The Way Ahead has conducted three surveys among young professionals (YPs) to understand preferences between the technical and managerial career ladder. Approximately two-thirds of respondents sought to pursue a management career. It is estimated that one-third ultimately follow the managerial career path. Why do YPs see management as an attractive career? TWA is trying something new in this Forum section and asked select technical and managerial industry leaders for comments on key questions this survey raised. Let's hear what experienced technical and managerial professionals have to say on this critical subject. A total of 2,799 experienced professionals over 35 years of age responded to the survey—60% are on technical career paths and 40% in management positions. The results are representative at the 95% confidence level with a ± 1.79 margin of error. This survey aims to address questions regarding the technical vs. managerial ladder not previously investigated. All data collected, analyzed, and presented in previous articles, workshops, and papers were missing the perspective of professionals over the age of 35. Oil and gas industry veterans now share their experiences regarding the evolution of their career path and job selections. Responses provide suggestions on how organizations can motivate and retain young professionals (YPs) by effectively communicating the company's view on their potential. This survey is not designed to dissuade YPs from pursuing the management career option, but aims to explore the differences between technical and managerial career paths and share corporate expectations about what is required to succeed in both.