Introduction

Joint Operating Committees are the key organizational construct of a dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil & gas company. It is the interactions of many producers, service providers and suppliers who are involved in the day to day commercial and strategic concerns of that Joint Operating Committee that we need to concern ourselves with. The Security & Access Control module's focus is to ensure the right people have the right access to the right information with the right authority. This is at the right time at the right place and through the right device. 

Throughout the Preliminary Specification we discuss two of the most pressing operational issues in the oil & gas industry. Those being the demand for earth science & engineering effort is increasing with each barrel produced. This is best represented by the steep escalation of oil & gas exploration and production costs. At the same time, critical earth science & engineering resources are fixed and difficult to expand. And with the anticipated retirement of this brain trust in the next twenty years, the problem becomes critical. The second issue regards the manner in which the administrative and accounting resources are organized within the industry. With the Preliminary Specification the need for each producer to develop their own administrative and accounting capabilities internally is replaced by an overall industry capability. Then each producer can access those resources on a variable cost basis with direct charges to the Joint Operating Committee. This provides operational flexibility in how a producer approaches its strategic and tactical needs. 

There are few short-term solutions to the shortfall in geologists and engineers over the next twenty years. It takes the better part of that time to train them to operate in the industry. What we do know are several "things" being applied in the People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification. Many of these concepts are based on what we call Industrial Command and Control. Which is a method developed in the Security & Access Control module of imposing command and control over any and all Joint Operating Committees, working groups, producer firms, service providers or organizations the producer may need to add structure to. The concepts are the further specialization and division of labor, and a reduction in the redundant building of capabilities within each oil & gas producer, or as we describe it, a pooling of resources in the Joint Operating Committee.

The first concept of specialization and division of labor is well known as a principle of economics that brings about greater economic productivity from the same volume of resources. Given that the volume of earth science & engineering resources is known for the foreseeable future. Specialization and the division of labor will provide us with a tangible means to deal with oil & gas industry productivity. In today’s marketplace, approaching a heightened level of specialization and division of labor without software to define and support it would be foolish.

The pooling concept is the solution to the current desire that each producer firm acquires the earth science & engineering capabilities necessary to deal with all the needs of their “operated” properties. This creates unneeded “just-in-time” capabilities for scarce scientific resources. When each producer within the industry pursues this same strategy substantial redundancies are built into the industry's capabilities. Redundancies that are left unused and unusable. What is proposed through the People, Ideas & Objects software application modules is that the producer's operational strategy avoids the “operator” concept. Instead, it pools their specialized technical resources through the Joint Operating Committee partnership. That way the redundancies that would have been present in the industry can be made available to the producers and used by the producers through hyper-specialization and division of labor.

These same principles are present in the second issue noted above. The administrative and accounting capabilities acquired through industry-wide capabilities provide the producer with the flexibility to address operational concerns. Issues such as today’s low natural gas prices can be addressed through this revised structure. By having administrative and accounting service providers charge their service fees directly to the Joint Operating Committee. The producer gains the ability to shut-in unprofitable production with only positive effects on their financial performance. Administrative, accounting, and production costs are eliminated during shut-in production. Providing the most profitable means of oil & gas operations when unprofitable properties no longer dilute profitable properties. Producers can save their reserves for the time when they can be produced profitably. Reserves costs don't have to carry additional losses if unprofitable production continues. Reserves can be seen as a low-cost solution to production and storage. Commodity prices will have less volatility due to producers removing marginal production from the marketplace. 

Being able to provide service providers with access to and security during these day-to-day operations will be a unique situation for the oil & gas producer. Service providers will aggregate data industry wide. And there will be many service providers involved in providing administrative and accounting services to the producer firm and Joint Operating Committees. Consideration of the proprietary nature of the information and security will be priorities for the Preliminary Specification. 

A quick note on mobility. People are provided with new devices that enable them to work anywhere. These phones and tablets, in addition to laptop computers, open up security and access control concerns for the innovative and profitable oil & gas producer. Some producers enable their staff with policies that allow them to bring their own devices to work. The fact is these devices provide enhanced productivity and are appropriate for an innovative and profitable oil & gas producer. People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification includes an understanding that these devices will be part of the day to day used in the oil & gas industry. 

What these concepts require is what the Security & Access Control module is designed to provide. The system must provide access to the right person at the right time and at the right place with the right authority to the right information. With the Industrial Command & Control there will be a manner in which the technical, and all the resources, that have been pooled from the producers, interact with an appropriate governance and chain of command.

Two Types of Data

When we talk about the various people within the producer firms affiliated with a Joint Operating Committee. And the number of Joint Operating Committees that a firm may have an interest in. And the number of people a firm employs. Access control becomes challenging. It becomes a challenge when we consider that people certainly should have the access required, but the level of trust they may have with respect to other partner organizations is probably not as strong. That is to say, does using the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct of a dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil & gas producer, open the producer firm to data loss? This is how People, Ideas & Objects deal with the access and trust issue in the Security & Access Control module.

When we concern ourselves with the data and information of the producer firm. We also concern ourselves with the information cleared by the various Joint Operating Committees that the oil & gas producer has an interest in. We can all agree that this information is proprietary and subject to each producer firm's internal policies. (Information such as reserves data, accounting information, internal reports and correspondence, strategy documents.) What we're concerned about is the information and data held in the Accounting Voucher module and the associated data common to the joint account. (well file, agreements, production data, capital and operating costs, revenue and royalties.) 

Close analysis of these two types of data and information held within the firm and the Joint Operating Committee falls within the proprietary and partnership domains. In Canada at least, most data and information regarding well operations can be freely obtained through various regulatory agencies. Nonetheless, the majority of the data is shared through the partnership who have an interest in the data and information. Which is not the case with the producer firm's data. Most of the information is kept close at hand and reported through filtered reserve report summaries and annual reports. Therefore keeping a handle on proprietary data, while operating the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct of the innovative oil & gas producer, as proposed by People, Ideas & Objects, does not present any data leakage.

Access control can therefore be limited by restricting any company personnel from viewing other companies' files. Which is a given. While in People, Ideas & Objects access control is restricted to the firm's Joint Operating Committees and the firm's files only. To extend this further, we would limit access to the appropriate roles within the firm. Then it is up to our user community to define a standard set of generic roles in which access is required to certain data types. This would apply to the types of operations handled by that role, for example, read, insert, update, delete. These generic roles could then be assigned to each individual within the organization based on their needs. Assigning multiple roles for more complex access. Access to proprietary data would be restricted to company personnel only.

More on the ICC

Throughout the Preliminary Specification we‘ve discussed our solution to one of the premier issues the oil & gas industry faces. That is the demand for earth science & engineering effort per barrel of oil increases with each barrel produced. This is best represented by the steep escalation of oil & gas exploration and production costs over time. At the same time, critical earth science & engineering resources are fixed and difficult to expand in the short or medium term. Add to that the anticipated retirement over the next twenty years of the current brain trust of the industry and the problem becomes a critical concern.

There are few short-term solutions to the status quo volume of geologists and engineers. It takes the better part of that time to train them to operate in the industry. Our resolution in the People, Ideas & Objects software applications modules involves what we’ve developed and called “Industrial Command & Control” (ICC) and the application of specialization and division of labor. Specialization and the division of labor are well known principles of economics that bring about greater economic productivity from the same volume of resources. Given that the volume of earth science & engineering resources is known for the foreseeable future, specialization and the division of labor will provide us with a tangible means to potentially increase the capability, capacity and productivity of the oil & gas industry, yielding multiples of today’s performance over the long term. With software defining and supporting organizations, today’s producers must approach a heightened level of specialization and division of labor through software in broadly dispersed North American markets.

People, Ideas & Objects ICC involves the implementation of specialization and the division of labor in the fields of geology and engineering. It is currently necessary for each producer firm to acquire all the earth science & engineering capabilities necessary to deal with the needs of the properties they "operate". Which allows the full scope of these sciences to be deployed "just-in-time". When each producer within the industry pursues this same strategy, organizational inefficiencies in these critical resources are introduced. This is due to the method of organization built into the industry's overall capacity and capabilities. Leaving resource utilization rates lower due to the volume of unused and unusable resources locked in each producer firm. 

What is proposed through the People, Ideas & Objects software application modules ICC is that the producer's operational strategy avoids the “operator” concept. Instead, it pools these technical resources through each of their partnerships represented in their Joint Operating Committees. That way the inefficiencies that would have been present in the industry can be made available and used through industry wide, producer focused, advanced and advancing specialization and division of labor. Where many of the lower end processes are offloaded to service providers who specialize in that basic skill on behalf of many producers. This is done in a geographical area or other specialization. And each individual producer focuses on a specialized element of science as it develops and innovates upon that. People, Ideas & Objects believe producers will soon be unable to commercially support the full scale of engineering & earth science disciplines tasks and responsibilities as they have in house. This will be due to the shortages of resources, the cost escalation of these resources in the market due to their shortages, the expansion of demand from higher production volumes to achieve energy independence, the demands for more science in each incremental barrel of oil produced, the anticipated, substantial expansion of the sciences and the need to innovate upon that expanding science. For producers to maintain a broadened division of labor to deal with these issues and “operatorship” capabilities, it will extend them beyond any producer's commercial capacity.

What these concepts demand is what the Security & Access Control module is designed to provide through the ICC. The People, Ideas & Objects system must provide access to the right person at the right time and at the right place. This is with the right authority and the right information. With the ICC there will be a manner in which the technical and all the resources pooled from the producers, interact with the appropriate governance, compliance and industry standard chain of command.

Before the hierarchy which was a commercial development of the 20th century, there was only the military structure in terms of large organizations. The main difference between the two is subtle but significant. Military structures are broader and flatter than hierarchy. That is one of the ideals we are seeking, but the more significant feature is the ability for the chain of command to span multiple internal and external organizational structures and to move resources from different areas of the military through standardization.

The nature of people working through the industry-standard chain of command layered over the Joint Operating Committee will include all oil & gas disciplines. The contributions of staff, financial and technical resources will include all those employed by the industry today. I could foresee many office buildings being refurbished to accommodate the staff of a single Joint Operating Committee of a large property. There, staff from the different producers may be seconded to provide support for the Joint Operating Committee. They may work for a single Joint Operating Committee, not for any particular producer firm.

As background we should recall that each individual would have different access levels and authorizations in terms of access to People, Ideas & Objects ERP systems. Assuming different roles and responsibilities, they would impose different access levels to data, information, processes and functionality. People, Ideas & Objects application modules rely on the Security & Access Control module to implement Industrial Command & Control. This structure, particularly in a Joint Operating Committee, would weave multiple producer firms under one industry standard chain of command. The interface ensures that all processes are monitored for compliance, governance, and overall completeness.

Access, Roles and Responsibilities

This topic discusses the way authorizations, roles and responsibilities are handled in the Security & Access Control module of the Preliminary Specification. We should discuss the topic of delegating authority and responsibility during absences, which can come up from time to time.

As background we should recall that each individual would have different access levels and authorizations in terms of access to the People, Ideas & Objects systems. Assuming various roles and responsibilities, they would impose different access levels to data, information, processes and functionality. In addition, Security & Access Control is the key module for implementing Industrial Command & Control across People, Ideas & Objects. This structure, particularly in a Joint Operating Committee, would weave multiple producer firms under one chain of command. To ensure compliance, governance, and overall process completeness, it will need to provide an interface to ensure all processes are monitored.

Throughout the Preliminary Specification there is the perception of a heightened role for technology in terms of enabling authorization to conduct operations. Thus, the ability to do things and get things done depends on collaborating with partners and authorizing actions through processes managed by the systems. This participation dictates that the designation of the roles in the Security & Access Control module “means” more than just data access; it imposes authority and responsibility to undertake actions on behalf of Joint Operating Committees and / or producer firms.

It is necessary to assign this authority within the Security & Access Control module during any absence. If someone with authority and responsibility was away for whatever reason, they should be able to assign their authority to another person. This will enable them to fill that role while away. This will ensure that the process isn’t held up during their absence. Delegations of authority have been used for years in large firms and with a system that imposes authorizations and responsibilities on specific roles, the ability to temporarily move them down, across or up the chain of command is a necessity to keep the organization functioning.

Lastly we should talk about the interface that helps to identify missing elements in a process. It would simply show the command structure of the people assigned to a Joint Operating Committee or a process. It would also show their related role, authorizations and responsibilities. If someone was away, it would indicate who took over their role. It would help to identify how they could impose a chain of command to fill any vacancies. This would be particularly helpful if the role or process needed to be documented for compliance purposes.

People, Ideas & Objects and Oracle Corporation

Starting with the Security & Access Control module we find that Oracle Corporation has a comprehensive suite of applications that provide the security and access control that we are looking for falling under the Oracle Identity Management brand name. These products include tools for Access Management, Identity Administration, Directory Services and Governance. These product classifications come in a variety of different products and are configured in some specialty industry and management suites. 

Two areas in the Preliminary Specification that will be challenging to develop are the Industrial Command & Control (ICC) and the inter-relatedness of the Joint Operating Committee and service industry representatives. Early on in the specification we noted a number of research areas that needed to be conducted. These are two areas that will take research dollars to resolve. To have the ICC recognize members of different organizations will not be a challenge. To engage them and have them interact in the manner we expect them to when we expect them to, will. 

Oracle Identity Management resides within the Oracle Fusion Middleware product layer. As we indicated earlier in the Preliminary Specification this is Oracle’s Java Enterprise Server. Therefore these applications are open to tailoring to our users' needs through the process of “additions” as Oracle calls them. When we sit down with Oracle and define the Security & Access Control module based on our user needs. These needs can be accommodated by the technologies we have selected. 

And it is through our user community that we will resolve these issues. It is one of the reasons People, Ideas & Objects software developments budgets are where they are. We will have challenges to resolve in delivering these innovative systems to the industry. I would remind producers that our value proposition sees the one-time costs of these developments amortized over our producer base. Yet each producer receives the full scope of that development effort in terms of the software application. 

We now look at the Oracle product classification for Access Management. Included in the Access Management classification are the following products: Oracle Access Manager, Oracle Adaptive Access Manager, Oracle Entitlements Server, Oracle Identity Federation and Oracle Enterprise Single Sign-On Suite. Each of these products will be included in the Preliminary Specification as they have components required for day to day use by our users, service providers, producers and Joint Operating Committees.

One area Oracle had been working on was working with partners, vendors and suppliers. Within Oracle Access Manager it is noted that they provide... “Building federated user communities that span company boundaries.” These are the beginnings of both pooling and Industrial Command & Control (ICC) that are critical to resolving many of the issues that the oil & gas industry faces. 

On the heels of Oracle Access Manager is their Adaptive Access Manager which takes the concept of intra-partner interactions further with “Oracle Adaptive Access Manager makes exposing sensitive data, transactions and business processes to consumers, remote employees or partners via your intranet and extranet safer.” This is the nature of business in the future. Working with partners, as is done by the Joint Operating Committee, is an effective means of reducing costs and increasing innovation in any industry. It’s only reasonable that technologies emulate these needs. In addition Oracle Adaptive Access Manager takes security and authentication to another level. As a result, our demands regarding the pooling concept and the ICC, I feel, will be less of a technical risk for the People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification and subsequent developments. 

The next application is the Oracle Entitlement Server which provides a dynamic access control element to the applications that use the server. Instead of manually wiring access control privileges into each application and user, they can be dynamically generated using the Oracle Entitlement Server. “The solution can manage complex entitlement policies with a standalone server or with a distributed approach that embeds information at the application level.” When it needs to be determined if user X has access to Joint Operating Committee Y, a decision from the entitlement server, based on criteria within the application, can be made. If this information is changed, our user would be denied access. This provides enhanced security based on policies and reduces the amount of detailed specific software development that is difficult, time consuming, and costly to maintain. 

Federated Identities are a major part of how the pooling concept and ICC are implemented in the Preliminary Specification. We have specified in many modules, such as the Resource Marketplace module, Federated Identities. Situations such as where the vendor maintains contact and other information. That information is comprehensive and includes key organizational contacts, calendars and scheduling information. Working with the partners in the Joint Operating Committee and the representatives of the service industry in this way will effectively mitigate many technical software development issues we have. These data elements are maintained by each producer / service industry company and available globally throughout the People, Ideas & Objects applications.

One area that we will continue to face a challenge is in the Work Order. Putting together a working group to study earth science or engineering research is critical to innovative oil & gas producers and the industry in general. These are ad-hoc organizations formed with partners that may have no past history to draw from. Federated Identities will provide users with some of the information they need to establish the partnership and grant application access. However, there is still the pooling of and sourcing of costs, and budgets. Costs and their contributions are traditionally what invoke the bureaucratic nightmare that mitigates and destroys the motivation for these working groups to form. We need to ensure these roadblocks do not get in the way. We have proposed to overcome these issues by developing an intuitive interface for our users involved in organizing the working group. 

We don't want our users to experience a mindless security access maze. Oracle Enterprise Single Sign-On Suite Plus promises to keep this from happening. Logging onto and off of systems as our user proceeds through the various modules and components of the applications is a must have. This product promises this level of service seamlessly and remotely. Which is needed. And considered a must have feature in today’s software offerings.

Oracle Identity Manager which will be used as the base product for role and identity management. This will be the base of the Industrial Command & Control for People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification. It is part of the Oracle Fusion Middleware product offering and part of their Java Enterprise Server. Therefore we can build off the functionality existing and enhance it with our user community's needs. Building off of the functionality will be somewhat limited as many of the concepts inherent in the ICC are already captured in Oracle Identity Manager. 

Oracle Identity Manager is a highly flexible and scalable enterprise identity administration system that enhances operational and business efficiency. It provides centralized administration & complete automation of identity and user provisioning events across the enterprise and extranet applications. It manages the entire identity and role lifecycle to meet changing business and regulatory requirements and provides essential reporting and compliance functionalities. By applying business rules, roles, and audit policies, it ensures consistent enforcement of identity-based controls and reduces ongoing operational and compliance costs.

Oracle Internet Directory and Oracle Virtual Directory product offerings follow. A bit off topic but Oracle Internet Directory is a relational database-derived directory server. That Oracle is providing the marketplace with a directory server based on relational database technology speaks to the power of their relational database. They claim they have performance for two billion users. I see the advantages of using this product over their traditional directory server and have selected it for the Preliminary Specification. It will provide us with some flexibility when we ask some of the most comprehensive and demanding questions of these technologies. 

Oracle Internet Directory could be deployed as an industry wide directory server. In this case, I am referring to a directory server for the oil & gas and service industries. There it can integrate with other Oracle products, such as Oracle Identity Manager, which would be deployed at the producer firm, Joint Operating Committee and service industry representative level. This being a relational database we have some interesting opportunities here. 

Oracle Virtual Directory may be the first step toward optimizing relational databases. What we will have is a global database of names within the Oracle Internet Directory. These will relate to the information contained in Oracle Identity Manager and other applications. Oracle Virtual Directory will provide us with a seamless way to browse, and applications will see these datastores as one. 

Within the Preliminary Specification we want to access the contact information of the people or firms that provide services or products to the producers or Joint Operating Committees. Individuals and service industry members are expected to maintain their own contact and basic information. These will be maintained in the Oracle Internet Directory for each and every producer or Joint Operating Committee to access the latest and up to date information. This will save an immense amount of time for producers and Joint Operating Committees, as well as individuals and service industry providers. When looking for someone the search capabilities will be significant as we have added the “Vendor / Supplier Contact Database” and the “Actionable Information Interface” to this base data in the Resource Marketplace module. 

Now we want to look at Oracle Identity Analytics as part of the Security & Access Control module of the Preliminary Specification. This application provides governance over the access privileges granted to our users of the People, Ideas & Objects application modules. Many of the functions and processes provided in Oracle Identity Analytics are either necessary or of significant value included in the Preliminary Specification. 

A key area of our strategy is to understand the "why" and "how" our users access our services. Providing documentation of what information was accessed by what users and if any of the access violates any of the established policies. Ensuring that data access by users is compliant with corporate and application policies. This is to ensure that users are not unnecessarily abused by overtly secure systems and overall efficient corporate governance is achieved. All of the data collected during data access, that is the “why and how” of our users' access. Is compiled in a “Data Warehouse” for further analytical analysis and querying. This will help to show trends and usage patterns that will form updated policies and procedures and security provisions. 

Another useful function within the Oracle Identity Analytics application is the Segregation of Duties feature. In many areas of a corporation, certain process functions must be undertaken by specific and sometimes different individuals. This feature provides for that assurance. It is Sarbanes-Oxley compliant. This is particularly relevant when the Joint Operating Committee is small, as we mentioned the other day. And we have assigned many roles to a few people. By segregating the roles that need to be kept separate for compliance purposes, this application ensures that the appropriate governance is maintained. 

There is a comprehensive and customizable dashboard interface for our Oracle Identity Analytics users to analyze the data and particularly the data warehouse. Filled with reports and data that an effective user can use to determine where and how the People, Ideas & Objects producer client might be susceptible to access control violations. 

The last feature I want to highlight is what Oracle calls Role Lifecycle Management. This provides the Oracle Identity Analytics user with the ability to do “what if” analysis in terms of the implications for identities and roles within the People, Ideas & Objects application. It contains a role change approval process, role versioning and role rollback. These will be needed in determining and maintaining the Industrial Command & Control. 

We now step down from the Oracle Fusion Middleware layer to the actual Oracle Database for some security features. The first product in this stack is Oracle Advanced Security. It provides authentication, encryption, and encryption of database and network activity. It is possible, and I highly recommend that all the data and information used in the People, Ideas & Objects application modules be encrypted in the database and on the network. This increases the load on the systems and requires additional effort in terms of key management. However, I think the nature of the data and information and the manner in which the applications are provided as Cloud Administration & Accounting for Oil & Gas, this level of security is necessary. 

Oracle Audit Vault is another product I recommend for the Preliminary Specification. It provides central location and management of audit information for compliance purposes. The ability to manage data, information, privacy policies, and security for our users. Oracle Audit Vault is Sarbanes Oxley compliant. 

This next Oracle product adds to the Preliminary Specification. Oracle Label Security will work in many different ways within the modules however here are just two examples. The application designates specific individuals with higher security clearances. It designates specific data fields with certain security clearance. Those with high enough security clearances and appropriate authorizations can read these database fields. Within the People, Ideas & Objects application we want to ensure that the reserves, accounting information and strategy discussions of each producer firm remain confidential to a select group of individuals within that firm. With Oracle Label Security that is possible. We want to ensure that the appropriate people within the chain of command in Industrial Command & Control have access to the appropriate materials to make the appropriate decisions. This will allow those individuals to have access to these materials without making them available to everyone in the chain of command. 

Although not that pertinent to our users of the People, Ideas & Objects applications we have included Oracle Configuration Management, Oracle Database Firewall and Oracle Database Vault as part of the Preliminary Specification. These will help keep the applications and the Oracle Database running as they should. Oracle Configuration Management will determine if there is a change in the configuration, either through a patch, or if something has been done wrong it will correct itself back to the specified configuration. Ensuring that what is promised to our users of People, Ideas & Objects is provided. Oracle Database Firewall ensures no SQL statements inconsistent with our users' or applications are passed through to the database. Oracle Database Vault allows you to restrict certain IP addresses or users to running certain SQL commands. It also locks databases from having any operations conducted on them. 

Backing up data and information is two of Oracle’s strengths. Oracle Secure Backup provides excellent tools for this. Because the database is encrypted, the backup is encrypted as well. What we will need to do in the Preliminary Specification is to determine in extensive detail what precisely will be the backup strategy used for the People, Ideas & Objects application. 

Lastly there is Oracle Total Recall. A product that helps access historical data. Oracle Fusion Applications provides some interesting solutions for how they handle legacy applications. We will get into those as we proceed through the Preliminary Specification.

Conclusion

It is important to remember that here in the Security & Access Control module of the Preliminary Specification. That the role and identity-based Industrial Command & Control (ICC) as conceived here has not been implemented, developed or conceived anywhere else before. We are taking role and identity-based management to the next level with the ICC. This is done through the usage of the Joint Operating Committee, through pooling and taking advantage of specialization and the division of labor in the oil & gas industry. 

Why are we bothering with the ICC and the Joint Operating Committee pooling of resources? The issue we are resolving is the finite number of earth science & engineering resources available to the industry. With the anticipated retirement levels in the next 20 years. With the time requirements to bring on increased levels of resources. And most importantly with the demands for more energy, and the demands for more earth science & engineering in each barrel of oil equivalent produced. We face long-term shortages of critical resources. The need to organize the industry, exploit specialization and division of labor, and Professor Paul Romer's theory of non-rival costs is necessary to increase the output from the same number of resources. Doing this without pooling the resources in the Joint Operating Committee will cause the producer firm to broaden the scale of their earth science & engineering capabilities beyond what would be a commercially viable concern. The Preliminary Specification notes that we have contributions from earth scientists and engineers from multiple producers working together to meet the objectives of the Joint Operating Committee. Therefore we need a means to organize themselves and that is the Industrial Command & Control of the Security & Access Control module. 

How the ICC will be implemented will be determined by our user community. However, I can speculate that the Joint Operating Committee will have standard roles and identities used throughout the industry. Standardization provides many benefits and will be necessary in this instance to make technology work. One of the key benefits of standardization is enhanced innovation. The need to have the various areas "covered" in terms of compliance and other requirements will require a standard template used by everyone. Everyone will know that that position is responsible for that role and responsibility. When Joint Operating Committees are small and have only a few people assigned, multiple roles can be assigned to one individual. 

There are security and access control issues associated with the service industry and particularly service providers accessing People, Ideas & Objects systems and data. Removing administrative and accounting resources from the producer firms and organizing them in their own service providers provides significant operational flexibility to the innovative and profitable oil & gas producer. The Security & Access Control module ties these disparate organizations into highly organized replacements for the current bureaucracy. Contributing substantially to People, Ideas & Objects' overall tangible portion of our value proposition.

With the natural division in the types of information held within a producer and Joint Operating Committee. Producers will know that the Preliminary Specification can deliver the right information to the right people at the right time. Leakage of proprietary information can be mitigated by isolating company data. This is due to its unique nature and Oracle Label Securities' ability to restrict access to database fields. 

Oracle’s products provide a strong layer of mission critical capabilities in the Security & Access Control module. Oracle provides comprehensive coverage of security, access control, audit, back up and roll management to name just a few of the highlights provided. Although this comes with additional costs, I am certain that no one will argue with the quality and peace of mind that these products bring.