Home > News > Digital transformation: driven by curiosity

Digital transformation: driven by curiosity

23 November 2021 | BBMC EventsBBMC News

The BBMC wrapped up 2021’s luncheon series with guest speaker Andrew Wilson, Head of Digital Teams, BHP. Attendees gained a valuable insight into the rationale behind Digital Teams, and what outcomes BHP is seeking in their drive for leadership in digital transformation.

Andrew’s upbringing as the son of geologist parents who introduced him to the budding IT world from the ripe old age of four set him up perfectly for a career that’s led to his current role. Andrew has had extensive underground and above-ground mining experience in WA. Moving further into the IT space, he has managed remote operations centres in different locations around the world.

The digital transformation phenomenon

While ‘digital transformation’ seems to be the buzzword of the 2020 decade, Andrew goes further to describe the motivation that leads to transformation. “At the heart of it is a level of individual curiosity that ask the questions and galvanises companies to think differently about what they’re doing. Our extraction and mining industries are among the most curious. Who else walks over a piece of dirt and is curious enough to invest significantly to find out what’s down there?” He commented that the mining industry must recognise the accelerated pace of digitisation, or risk being quickly overtaken and end up wondering what hit them.

And it’s not just the effects of the pandemic that have accelerated digitisation. Andrew cited the discussions held at the recent Glasgow COP26 conference, where innovative digital technology was a key factor in every proposed solution. Andrew thinks that “as time goes by, there’ll be more accelerators like these, and an increasing push for digital efficiency in workplaces.”

BHP’s rationale for Digital Teams

Andrew explained that the team is looking for more than straight investment into the next trending application or analysis tool. More than that, they’re looking for partnerships with people who think differently, not focusing on the day to day, but those who keep looking for answers beyond the obvious, who are not afraid to not know those answers and are willing to learn.

The Digital Teams mandate is to empower the people who know how to do the work on the ground and have the attitude to get the answers no matter what it takes. BHP recognise that partnerships and working with different models of collaboration is where they’re headed in digital transformation. He says, “working together as one team will see us move the needle in Queensland and remain resilient as we go forward.”

Andrew emphasised that it’s a particularly exciting time to be in the industry, and if suppliers have a digital product or service that answers safety and productivity challenges for BHP, the team wants to hear from you.

Digital Teams and the Supplier Innovation Program

Andrew leads 60 digital professionals in a gender-balanced team from 13 different nationalities who talk 14 different languages. Their backgrounds including data and cloud engineers, user experience and interface specialists, product owners and data and analytics scientists.

They’re sourcing data internally from BHP and external vendors in partnership and collaborative models. The Digital Teams work on internal software development, fed through BHP’s Supplier Innovation program run by Austmine.

The Supplier Innovation Program encourages entrepreneurial thinking, fosters originality and builds capability in the local community. By reimagining business models with the METS sector, the program enables innovative solutions to be designed, tested and implemented, fast-tracking the adoption of new technology. BHP crowd-sources a broad range of unique solutions to business challenges.

Queensland Mining Awards 2022 Launched

The 2022 Queensland Mining Awards were also launched during the luncheon, before entries open on January 17.

As one of the returning expert judges, Andrew took the time to hand out his best advice to potential award entrants, saying, “The judges look for people who can clearly articulate the results their product or project has produced, and what the added value proposition is. He also mentioned the importance of ‘telling the story’, and of exactly answering the questions that judging is based upon.

To find out more about the Awards, head to www.qldminingawards.com.

The first BBMC luncheon for 2022 will be held in Mackay in February.