Volume 22 Number 6 234th issue 2017 Highlights GBC IIoT in O&G IVAAP microservices Ikon interview INT rolls-out microservices-based back end. CEO software components from More from PNEC Olivier Lhemann reveals the technology under-the- different vendors. We asked Lhemann if Ivaap would ease Blockchain news hood and the potential for interoperability with interoperability with, say, GE’s Pipeline software other frameworks such as GE’s Predix. Predix. He replied, ‘We have Houston-based INT, purveyor of ‘We use the Akka Framework to limited experience with Predix VR revisited software ‘widgets’ that are package our microservices so but as it is based on Pivotal’s MS’ Red Carpet widely used by major upstream that they are highly concurrent, Cloud Foundry, Predix software vendors and by in- secure and resilient. Our applications deployed to the ThinAnywhere back house oil and gas company customers can use other cloud will access external developers has announced technologies to augment the resources via the Open Service Ivaap* a new microservices- functionality of the platform and Broker API, launched last based back end for its geoscience integrate with their own December. Eventually, Open and engineering data services.’ Service Broker could be a good NEXT IN OIL IT visualization and analysis Another early-adopter of bridge between Ivaap and JOURNAL, solutions. microservices is GE whose Predix. We are not quite there EAGE, 2017 The Ivaap framework is designed Predix leverages a suite of yet, but this seems like a good to connect to multiple data ‘discoverable’ microservices. way to proceed in the future.’ More from INT. PARIS streams such as a Witsml server. While cloud-deployed Developers can aggregate, microservices are clearly of * INT Visualization and analyze and display well and interest to IT, the big question Analytics Platform. other data from multiple sources for the business is whether they including Int’s own GeoServer. can will really enhance In this issue: Ivaap is cloud-enabled and interoperability between ‘network-secure’ for remote Editorial 2 collaboration. Microservices Ikon interview, Getting 3 technology, which favors data right lightweight, componentized Flutura & JAG software over monolithic Cgdms, Divestco, 4 applications is cloud-friendly Retired C-level execs (including former ConocoPhil- Statoil, Roxar, 3ESI, and scalable for concurrent CMG, Baker Hughes, lips chairman Archie Dunham), leading VCs back processing, performance and Cerebra AI’s push to oil & gas. IHS Markit high-availability. INT’s compact Software, hardware 5 widgets are well-suited to the Houston-based Jerry Allen forward thinking players who short takes, microservices-style architecture. Group (JAG Resources) has invest in artificial intelligence partnered with AI-focused capabilities like Cerebra. In oil Consortium corner INT CEO Olivier Lhemann told startup Flutura to ‘accelerate the and gas, the risk of digital Oil IT Journal, ‘Ivaap is GBC IIoT/ digital 6-7 revolution’ of artificial inaction is greater than the risk of organized as a suite of services solutions in Oil & Gas intelligence and the industrial failure.’ that are easy to discover and internet in oil and gas. The People, Done deals 8 use. Ivaap leverages Hateos Cerebra allows advanced partnership focuses on the use of which enforces the inclusion of diagnostic algorithms for More from PNEC, 9 Flutura’s flagship Cerebra IIoT hyperlinks within its web equipment health ‘episode’ Blockchain news, platform. responses. The structure of a detection and provides OEMs Siemens, BP Witsml data source, a LAS file JAG Resources is a group of with the ability to scale value Sales, partnerships, 10 or a SQL database can easily be retired energy sector leaders who added offerings across equipment Standards stuff explored by following the links chose to remain active by classes. returned by a request.’ mentoring start-up companies Flutura is backed by ‘leading’ Pipeline news, IDS, 11 bringing ‘innovation, disruptive ‘This means that rather than venture capital firms Vertex Jaspersoft, Open and transformative technologies’ enabling interoperability through Ventures of Singapore, Lumis Inventor, Hololens to the energy sector. the definition of new standards, Partners of Connecticut and Mitsubishi, OSIsoft, 12 microservices offer tools that JAG advisor Archie Dunham Silicon Valley’s The Hive. More Microsoft, Quorum, other developers or partners can (retired ConocoPhillips chair) from Flutura and JAG resources. ThinAnywhere, use to solve their problem.’ said, ‘Competitive advantage in Implico, Actenium the energy marketplace will go to ...www.oilIT.com...www.oilIT.com...www.oilIT.com...www.oilIT.com...www.oilIT.com...www.oilIT.com..www.oilIT.com... 2017 Oil Information Technology Journal http://www.oilIT.com Computing with light! An announcement from MIT researchers on breakthrough computing using ‘photonics’ highlights the potential for analog devices in artificial intelligence. Editor Neil McNaughton recalls earlier work using light to ‘image’ seismics. Unfortunately no longer a ‘politically correct’ use case for MIT! Early on in my career I was a young In the mid 1970s GPS did exist but it was programmable Mach–Zehnder geophysicist in the head offices of a major not very good. In fact although it was interferometers. The system was trialed on EU oil company. One day there was a widely adopted, the first sonar-doppler a ‘typical’ ANN-style problem, speech commotion in room near mine and soon aided marine GPS systems were a step recognition where it performed reasonably the ‘next big thing’ was unveiled, an back from radio navigation. Of which well, scoring a 77% accuracy. optical bench for analyzing seismic data. there were many competing systems. One Commenting the breakthrough Shen said This remarkable tool shone a laser beam of these (unfortunately I can’t remember that the architecture could, perform ANN through a 35mm slide (remember them?) what it was called and can’t find any calculations much faster and using less of a seismic line. The light then passed references), used an analog delay line and than one-thousandth as much energy per through a lens which focused the beam to a a radar type chirp that was broadcast over operation as conventional electronic chips. point. No surprises there. But what was the air. The signal was also sent, as an Energy consumption by the way is a big mind blowing (to me at least) was the fact acoustic surface wave across a solid-state issue in high performance computing. that the information, the pattern of light at device. The distance travelled across the ‘Light has a natural advantage in doing the focal point, represented a Fourier device (at the speed of sound) was selected matrix multiplication, dense matrix transform of the seismic image. For those so that it took about the same time as the operations are the most power hungry and of you who have not come across Joseph radio waves travelling to shore-based time consuming part of AI algorithms.’ Fourier’s chef d’oeuvre, a Fourier beacons (at the speed of light). By cross- And, one might say, of geophysical transform splits information into its correlating the returning radio signal with imaging. In fact the MIT team expects frequency components. A spectrum the output of the delay line, the time of other applications in signal processing. If it analyzer if you like. This laser optical bank travel (and hence the distance from) the wasn’t so politically incorrect these days, split seismic into its spatial (rather than shore-side beacon could be measured very they might have added ‘and in seismic temporal) frequencies. accurately. At least that was the idea. If my prospecting for oil.’ But MIT-GAG is of a memory serves me well the navigation This seemed to me rather fanciful until the long-forgotten past. MIT’s current Energy service was not in operation for very long machine’s champion began sliding optical Initiative, MITEI, is an altogether greener as the GPS brigade got their act together gratings and wedges into the device at the thing, even if though it is funded by oil and soon after the system was introduced and focal point, demonstrating just how gas companies. powerful a filtering device this was. You the rest is history. By the way, after the knock-off device could remove any directional component You may be wondering what the point of across the corridor from my office was in the slide and bring out features ‘hidden all this is in today’s age of digital ‘big’ installed, I would occasionally sneak in the data.’ It was so powerful that it may data. Well, a recent paper in Nature across the corridor and peek into the laser have brought out some features that were Photonics, ‘Deep learning with coherent room. I don’t recall it being used much. In not there at all. nanophotonic circuits’ by Yichen Shen et fact I think if was one of those things that al. from MIT describes the use of an I later realized that this was not exactly the you buy, use and couple of times to amaze optical, analog computer to perform ‘next big thing’ but the last, having been your friends and then forget about. A bit artificial neural network (ANN) ‘deep developed a decade earlier by United like my Panono! Geophysical and sold as the LaserScan. In learning.’ Seemingly, today’s computing the 1960s, (before my time!) this device hardware, despite ‘significant efforts’ is ‘inefficient at implementing neural was of interest to seismic processors, even @neilmcn though digital processing was already well networks.’ Just as the digital computers of established. Digital geophysics was the 1960s weren’t up to some geophysical invented a decade earlier (yes, in the processing tasks. And the solution may 1950s) at MIT’s Geophysical applications again be computing with light. group, MIT-GAG. But the laser/analog As an aside, this kind of photonics is not to device was capable of instant processing at be confused with quantum computing a higher resolution than would have been which is also touted as solution for ANN.