The oil and gas sector’s digitalisation

Kuwait

Yahya Mahmoud Al Sheibani, country manager of Indra, talks to The Energy Year about the company’s contribution to the Kuwaiti oil and gas sector’s digitalisation process and what kind of strategy it can follow to grow its footprint in-country. Indra provides proprietary solutions in the transport, air traffic and defence markets.

What role does Indra play in Kuwait?
Indra started operating in Kuwait in 2010. We were awarded a contract for an air traffic management system, and another for a voice communications control system. These two contracts have been delivered, and the systems are currently in operation since November 2017.
In June 2021, we signed two contracts. The first is related to equipping the Kuwait International Airport’s new air traffic control tower. We are also building a 360-degree simulator to train tower controllers.
Furthermore, we implemented an intelligent traffic system for the Kuwait Municipality. The idea of this system is to build a databank of Kuwait’s road traffic, including data such as traffic volume, vehicle classifications and weights, which helps support planning, design, construction and the overall operation of the road network.

How can Indra contribute to Kuwait’s oil and gas sector digitalisation process?
Minsait is the IT arm of Indra with a rich portfolio of solutions and services across various sectors, such as public administration and health, oil and gas, power and water utilities, banking, and telecom and media. Regarding the oil and gas sector, Minsait solutions and services are designed to respond to new challenges in this sector using advanced technology to drive the digital transformation of operations and assets management, with the objective of increasing efficiency as well as cost savings. Currently, more than 1 million barrels are managed daily by Minsait services and solutions, which can help achieve a 30% cost savings due to increased operations efficiency.
Minsait counts on the talent of its more than 2,500 consultants and engineers. I´m confident that Minsait can positively contribute to Kuwait’s oil and gas industry.

What are your key goals in Kuwait?
We want to grow within Kuwait. Our initial vision was more centred around security and transport. However, Indra can play an important role in the digitisation of Kuwait, overall and in the oil and gas sector in particular. Our goal is to contribute with the added-value solutions that we offer.

What strategy can Indra follow to grow its footprint in Kuwait?
One way of growing our footprint in Kuwait would be through strategic partnerships with flagship Kuwaiti companies. In my opinion, this would be the best way to grow Indra’s presence in Kuwait, especially when talking about digitalisation and IT solutions.

Where would you like to see Indra in Kuwait in five years’ time?
I aspire to see Indra considered as a technological partner in Kuwait, and for that, we will continue working towards increasing our presence and the nature of projects and systems to be implemented in the country.

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