How do we build skills for the new energy sector and the energy transition? According to Aneesh Chopra it needs handshakes and handoffs. As the keynote speaker at the Trinidad and Tobago Energy Conference 2020, Chopra gave some stellar advice to stakeholders on how to prepare for what’s next in the energy sector.

Chopra, former Chief Technology Officer of the United States under President Barack Obama, showcased how skills were developed during the financial crisis of 2008/2009. 

He said that during the crisis, there was an obvious bipartisan need for things to get moving again in the economy and making the most of the stimulus packages (recovery act) that were put forward. There was support to take advantage of the crisis to make bets for the long term. 

That philosophy and investment plan he says has moved through on a bipartisan approach even under the new administration. 

He indicated that the strategy was built on three fundamental pillars. When we invest in infrastructure, we move from traditional roadways and railways to digitisation infrastructure, research and development, human capital development and digitisation of the grid, healthcare sector and the like, Chopra said. 

Chopra added that, as we digitise, we need to create new boundaries. He indicated that we need new models of multi-stakeholder collaboration to ensure security and to work in the best interest of the people — not those who sponsored the digitisation in the first place. 

He said where we have key national priorities, the government can call for an all-hands-on-deck approach in the spirit of public private partnerships (PPPs) to bring about the best of our ideas to solve the issues of today.

This is what he calls the importance of handshakes and handoffs. He said that ‘handshakes’ refers to the bipartisan political agreements to agree on the framework. Obviously figurative handshakes as physical handshakes are not allowed during the COVID19 pandemic. He added that being politically agreeable is not enough; there needs to be a handoff to a similarly energised private sector — the nonprofit sector — that can take the baton and close the innovation gap. 

Simply agreeing on new policy is insufficient in this era — all hands must be on deck and then a critical handoff between the public sector and the private sector is needed. 

The pillars of this new infrastructure involves cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and research and development. 

According to Chopra, the Department of Energy itself has put unprecedented investments in projects that incorporate artificial intelligence tools in the energy sector itself. Whether it be to identify promising areas for exploration and production or modernising the grid to have best yields from intermittent renewable energy. The U.S. government has set a goal of investing 3% of GDP in research and development he said. 

Chopra said, in addition to digital infrastructure, we need to think about human capacity — like Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, etc. He said that Science and Math are constant but Engineering and Technology are not treated equally as core components of the curriculum. He said though, that the jobs are in the trades or hands-on engineering. Chopra affirmed that you do not need a PhD in artificial intelligence to learn how to apply the technology to the oil and gas field. He said to think that everyone needs to be an expert in science and math to enter those new occupations would be a false narrative. The biggest opportunity he sees is in the trades that use the technology as a complement to work, rather than a replacement. 

To capitalise on this, we need greater industry certification and the ability of people to take those skills in a globally competitive market where they are put to the best use, Chopra said. He said that technology is a way to make business more efficient, but it is also a way to lift people up and give them a chance to aim much higher than they would have, under the normal way of life. Chopra ended by saying, “I share this because I see it as the future of the Caribbean.” In closing, he challenged, “What new ideas exist adjacent to the oil and gas sector that can be developed … and can be scaled … everywhere.”