The EnergyTech programme, an initiative led by Barclays Eagle Labs, in partnership with Opportunity North East (ONE) and CodeBase, looks to bring together company leaders from large established businesses in the energy sector, and start-up and scale-up leaders from across the UK through monthly virtual meetings in a safe, innovative space to share ideas, and combine expertise around specific shared challenges, as the industry works towards a sustainable model. Startups build domain expertise and incumbents are introduced to new technologies, skills and cultures to transform and accelerate innovatation, helping realise the UK industry ambition to become a global leader in sustainable energy.
Jon Hope, Director of Eagle Labs, said: “Innovation and digitalisation of the energy sector will be key in meeting our energy needs in the future and we hope by bringing together large energy incumbents with the more nimble start-up ecosystem, we can help drive this forward. Our initial meetings have received fantastic feedback from our bigger industry players and start-ups alike and we hope to see some deep and lasting relationships and networks emerge from the programme.”
Martin Boyle, Director of Innovation & Business Transformation at CodeBase, commented: “The energy sector is faced with momentous challenges: climate change, technology disruption, a need for innovations, to name just three! And all of this while they are being asked by society to 'keep the lights on'.
"With this programme we are bringing together people from startups and incumbents to sit around a virtual table to expose one to the other and to build a community of those who articulate challenges and those who are building solutions for those challenges.
"We are excited about enabling and informing this conversation with examples of best practice from other industry sectors that have faced off disruptive challenges through internal and external innovation efforts and partnerships.”
Sarah Moore, Executive Director Peterson said: “At Peterson we pride ourselves in driving forward our digital journey at pace so EnergyTech was a natural fit for us. The bridge sessions bring industry closer to tech startups and help both understand and navigate the pain points, this will drive transformational change in both technology and culture, and ultimately get results. Three sessions in we are already seeing exciting opportunities emerge.”
Steve Shearman, founder eCERTO, a cohort one start-up said: “The EnergyTech programme is a hyper accelerant and provides the framework to really engage with leaders around hard to solve problems and quickly leverage technology regardless of company size. After just three sessions, the relationship building and quality of conversation is hugely refreshing. In addition, engagement outside the scheduled meetings is building a genuinely strong and cohesive cohort and peer group.”
Jennifer Craw, Chief Executive, Opportunity North East, said: “The north east of Scotland is home to an exciting and growing cluster of early-stage digital businesses at the forefront of disruptive technology; and a world leading, innovative energy sector. EnergyTech builds the trust and relationships to harness the agility and fail fast methods of early-stage companies to support the energy sector and help it to embrace digital technology as a key enabler to shape the future of energy.”
Dan McAteer, VP Energy at global project and asset services firm, Worley, said: “The UK energy sector has traditionally been highly regulated and risk averse. Established practices and operating models have been difficult to disrupt, meaning the pace of change has lagged other sectors. But given the scale and pace of the energy transition, change is essential. Transformation outcomes will only be achieved with a pioneering mindset, and a willingness to combine new technology with new ways of thinking and working. EnergyTech is an excellent platform to showcase technologies and solutions that will continue to accelerate the energy industry's transition.”
Future EnergyTech meetings will focus on culture, digitising the supply chain, data sharing and digital twins and planning is underway for the next cohort of innovative digital tech companies for the programme. For more information about the EnergyTech initiative, please click here.
The first EnergyTech cohort are:
Established energy companies:
Petrofac, Proserv, Schlumberger, Sellafield, Serica and Worley.
Startups:
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