The energy industry is at a significant inflection point. Today’s utilities must contend with an electric power grid that has become significantly more distributed, more networked, and more transactional. Meanwhile, oil and gas companies are in the middle of a prolonged downturn, causing leaders to look for new innovations that can make their businesses more efficient.
How energy companies respond to these forces will potentially make or break their future market positions. Executive Vice President Gary Rahl, leader of Booz Allen’s energy business noted, “technology has fundamentally shifted how the energy sector thinks and operates. An industry that plans on the order of decades is now being forced to adapt and react to changes that happen in the relative blink of an eye. Utilities and oil and gas companies are living the benefits and risks of today’s disruptive technology—it spans from the enormous opportunity we can unlock in the ‘Grid of Things’ to securing the extensive cyber ‘attack surface.’”
In collaboration with IDC, Booz Allen’s review of the top energy industry trends in 2016 and summarized them in an infographic. What was uncovered confirms that the future of energy is about connectivity and compliance, security and talent.
