Online Competency Assessment Tool Developed for Geoscientists

Now, thanks to collaboration between eCom Scotland, the digital learning and assessment specialist, and Operations Geoscience International Competency Assessment (OGICA), a unique online assessment tool – powered by eCom’s flexible online assessment system, eNetAssess – has been developed to meet this need. As part of the tool’s rollout, on 28^thApril, OGICA’s Christine Telford will introduce its capabilities to members of The Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (CSPG). 

Realising that operational geoscientists had no objective assessment to measure expertise or competency in that industry, OGICA asked eCom to help to create a tool that would benchmark an individual's skills and provide a useful visual representation of the output.

Wendy Edie, eCom’s Managing Director, commented, “Given the international nature of the oil and gas sector and the 24-hour nature of their work, OGICA needed a digital solution that candidates could access at any time, from any location. 

“The tool eCom has developed is helping to demonstrably increase the standard of professionalism in these roles. While OGICA has supplied the industry-focused expertise in developing the tool’s content, this is backed by eCom’s many years’ of experience in developing eAssessment systems. We’re therefore a ‘trusted advisor’ to OGICA, a role which acknowledges eCom as a recognised ‘authority’ in digital learning and assessment – at least in an industry that comprises 3.8% of the global economy’s output. 

“Operational geoscientists can now assess themselves against the skills framework – via a randomised series of multiple-choice questions,” she continued. “As well as enabling users to progress to competency management systems relevant to their company or organisation, the tool also identifies any knowledge and skills gaps they may have – to help with their continuing professional development (CPD) and on-going lifelong learning.” 

In addition to OGICA engaging with several major international operators who are currently exploring how the framework can support their activities, as well as presenting to The Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (CSPG), one major oil and gas company is now using the framework, in-house, in the Middle East. 

“The largest global producers of oil are the United States, Russia and Saudi Arabia. These three countries produced some 33m barrels of oil per day in 2019 - which is some 54% of total world production,” Wendy explained. “We’re confident of developing the market for this tool, particularly among the world’s top oil and gas producers because it provides an objective assessment of these key professionals’ knowledge and skills.”