Digital Engineering Leadership Team

Digital Engineering: the next chapter

This is the second of the two workshops. The first session was about opening up the thinking. Today we turn the North Stars into a roadmap this group owns.

Session one · done

Thursday 10 September

10:00 – 12:00 · The Hive

Session two · today

Thursday 24 September

10:00 – 12:00 · The Hive

What we are here to do today

From the North Stars to a plan we own

We have two hours. We'll start from the five North Stars and work out what has to be true and in place at key interim steps if we're going to reach them. Then we'll pick the early steps for the year ahead, and each say what we'll do to help.

Start from the North Stars What's true by 2028 and 2030 Choose the early steps Say what you'll do

Andrew · 5 minutes

A word from Andrew

How we got here

From what you said to five North Stars

Click along the path to see how we got from the interviews to the five. Nothing here was invented for you; it all came from what you told us.

We started with the interviews

We asked people across the group what Digital Engineering should make possible for VIDA by 2031, then turned the recurring themes into cards for the first workshop.

You wrote 83 statements

In Session One each table picked the themes that mattered most, then everyone wrote what they'd want to be true by 2031. That gave us 83 statements.

Sixteen went forward, and you voted

Each table put its shortlist forward, and everyone voted for the futures they most wanted. We kept all 83 for the analysis, not just the ones that got votes.

We read the data two ways

We analysed the sixteen voted statements and all 83 separately. They mostly agreed, but the vote favoured the data and technical ideas, while whole-of-life value and the people side came through more strongly in what you wrote. The five even that back out.

Thirteen candidates, in six families

From everything you wrote we drafted thirteen candidates in six families, each traced back to your statements. We drafted more than we needed so there was room to choose.

Down to five

We merged the close ones and checked the set held together, which left five. Your comments on the playback page and a final review with the client settled the wording.

1 / 6

Our North Stars

These North Stars came from you

These came from what you told us, and they're now confirmed. This is where we're heading, and today is about making them real.

1A single source of truth that people trust

Anyone at VIDA, and any system, can access the reliable information they need from a single source that everyone contributes to and trusts, from designers through to operators. It is easy to use, regardless of technical expertise.

2Decisions made from live data

Decisions are made from live data as a matter of course, so decisions on cost, programme and risk are faster and better informed, and each project builds on what earlier projects learned.

3Part of everyday delivery

Digital Engineering is part of delivering every project, regardless of size. People use it in their day-to-day work, and it is embedded in how projects are delivered rather than treated as a separate activity.

4Value across the whole life of the asset

The information we create continues to deliver value long after handover. It remains useful to the operators who run the asset and informs VIDA's future investment and upgrade decisions.

5Backed by people at every level

People across VIDA and its supply chain understand Digital Engineering, see its value and have the capability to apply it, from executives to site. There is one shared definition, supported by the leadership, training and resourcing needed to make it successful.

At your table · 12 min

First thoughts · at your table

Which of these are you drawn to?

Talk it over at your table. Which one or two matter most to you, and where can you already see a way in?

06:00

Then we'll hear from a few tables, and sort who takes which North Star into the next two activities.

1

A single source of truth that people trustAnyone at VIDA, and any system, can access the reliable information they need from a single source that everyone contributes to and trusts. It is easy to use, regardless of technical expertise.

2

Decisions made from live dataDecisions are made from live data as a matter of course, so decisions on cost, programme and risk are faster and better informed, and each project builds on what earlier projects learned.

3

Part of everyday deliveryDigital Engineering is part of delivering every project, regardless of size. People use it in their day-to-day work, and it is embedded in how projects are delivered rather than treated as a separate activity.

4

Value across the whole life of the assetThe information we create continues to deliver value long after handover. It remains useful to the operators who run the asset and informs VIDA's future investment and upgrade decisions.

5

Backed by people at every levelPeople across VIDA and its supply chain understand Digital Engineering, see its value and have the capability to apply it, from executives to site, supported by the leadership, training and resourcing needed to make it successful.

How the activity works

Two points on the way: 2030 and 2028

For 2030 and 2028, write down two things: what's true that year, and what has to be in place for it. You can start at the North Star and work back, or start from where we are now and work forward. Here's a worked example.

2031 · North StarDecisions made from live data: cost, programme and risk decisions are faster and better informed, and each project builds on what earlier projects learned.

True by 2030On the big project decisions, people open the live data in the room and decide there and then, instead of working from a pack put together the week before.

True by 2028Every project keeps its cost, programme and design information connected in one place, so the current picture can be pulled up whenever it's needed.

What has to be in placeThe data is joined up across cost, programme and design; people trust it enough to decide on it; and every project has someone who can work with it live.

Activity · 30 min

In your group

Map your North Star across 2030 and 2028

One North Star per group, on one A2 sheet.

1

Gather around the North Star you want to work on

2

Fill in 2030 and 2028: what's true, and what has to be in place. Work back from 2031 or forward from now, whichever's easier

3

Use AI if it helps. Put your thinking in and ask it to sharpen it, find the gaps, or draft what has to be in place

4

Put your sheet on the wall, ready to talk to it

25:00

Then each group takes two or three minutes to talk the room through what they landed on.

Break · 10 min

Break

We will take a ten-minute break.

Please leave your sheets on the wall, and be back in your seats in ten minutes.

10:00

Activity · 20 min

Early steps · in your group

What are the early steps?

In the next year, what are the first two or three things that would start to make this real?

1

Choose two or three things that need to happen in the next year

2

For each one, name the people and stakeholders who need to be involved

3

For each one, note the enablers, the things needed to help make it happen

15:00

We'll bring these together on the screen, and mark the ones for the next DELT meeting.

Activity · 8 min

Your commitment

What will you do to help realise the North Stars?

A few examples: back it at DELT, make time for your team to learn it, ask for live data when decisions get made, or build it into a project you run.

Scan the code, or go to menti.com and enter 4772 1452.

Andrew · 5 minutes

A closing word from Andrew

What happens next

Where this goes from here

In the coming days

Your work is written up

We'll pull together the roadmap, the early steps and the commitments, and send them to you.

On 22 October

It comes back to you

You'll get the roadmap and the commitments again, four weeks on, so it's still in front of you when the work begins.

At the next DELT meeting

The early steps begin

The things you picked for the next year go onto the agenda, with the people who need to be involved in the room.

Thank you

Thank you for the work you have done across both sessions.

From here, it's ours to deliver together, with DELT.

Digital Engineering:the next chapter