Unlocking the potential of digitalisation for the energy sector
A Case Study conducted with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Case Study Authors
Cezara-Lidia Jalba (NDA), and Dr Susan Lattanzio (University of Bath)
Context
Digital technologies have the potential to deliver enormous economic, environmental, and societal benefits. However, heavily regulated sectors like the energy industry, known for their conservatism and low risk tolerance, face significant obstacles in adopting these technologies. This is significant because broader use of digital technologies is important for delivering on the industry's mission and crucial for the energy sector's transition to net zero.
Objective
According to the World Economic Forum, the adoption of digital technologies during the period 2016 to 2026 is estimated to have a value of $100 trillion. Despite their potential, technologies often encounter barriers to widespread adoption. This reluctance is particularly strong in highly regulated industries like the nuclear sector, where risk tolerance is low, and regulations are stringent. This is important because if these sectors refrain from adopting digital technologies, they may overlook opportunities such as cost reduction, enhanced safety, and decreased environmental impact.
In addressing this challenge, the focus of the academic literature has been on identifying barriers to the adoption of digital technologies. This shows that barriers to adoption are multidimensional encompassing organisational, technical, and people factors. While understanding of the barriers is crucial for tackling the challenge of technology adoption, it only represents one aspect of the equation – what impedes technology adoption. Little consideration had been given to understanding the enablers that facilitate adoption.
In this study, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and the Centre for People-Led Digitalisation collaborated to identify and characterise the barriers and enablers of a successful digitalisation project. These were translated into an industry useful Technical Report which will inform practice and help to accelerate digital adoption within and beyond the energy sector.
Approach
We use a case study of the Connected Infrastructure project – a successful digital technology project which was conducted by the NDA. We ran a workshop with key project stakeholders and use this to identify and rank barriers to digitalisation within the nuclear sector. These barriers were used to structure a discussion to identify enablers – factors considered to have contributed to the successful implementation of the project.
Insight
From this study were able to identify and ranked the barriers to digitalisation within the nuclear sector. These barriers encompass organisational, technical, and cultural factors, and supported the findings of previous studies that barriers are multidimensional. Notably, the highest-ranked barrier was 'understanding of beneficial use cases'.
Similarly, our exploration of enablers uncovered a diverse set of factors contributing to successful adoption. Interesting none of the enablers linked to the fundamental science. This reflects the industry's risk-averse nature and the requirement for technical solutions to have been proven before they are implemented within the sector.
A key finding of the study is that establishing a library of successful technology implementation projects in relevant contexts would be a practical route to enhancing adoption.
Artefact
Technical Report: Guidance for successful digital technology adoption in the nuclear industry
Impact
“The research helped us pin down the factors that enabled our project success. Learning from experience is a key technique in the nuclear decommissioning world for us to become better at what we do, and clean up our old sites quicker, safer and more cost-effectively. By pinning down the barriers and most importantly the enablers of digital technology adoption, we know what we should be ready for as we embark on further digitalisation projects. For complex sites like ours, this is fundamental. As our workforce diminishes as more and more people retire, digitalisation will continue to grow in our priorities list.
I am pleased to now be able to give our people in the NDA and its Operating Companies guidance on how to embark on the complex and sometimes daunting journey of digitalisation, based on real experience and with similar circumstances to theirs.”
Cezara-Lidia Jalba, CE&I Design Engineer, Sellafield Ltd
For further information on this case study please contact the PLD at P-LD@bath.ac.uk
Acknowledgement
The work reported in this paper was supported by the Made Smarter Innovation: Centre for People-Led Digitalisation, at the University of Bath, University of Nottingham, and Loughborough University. The project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Grant EP/V062042/1.
