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> Issue
3/2011

> Issue 3/2011

TECHNOLOGY & RESEARCH | IT & COMMUNICATIONS

The

smart
MINER
Mining enterprises must capitalise on developments in information and communications technology to build a new breed of smart miners, write Gerard Siromani and Rob Ritchie.
YOU NO LONGER NEED TO BE A technology geek to be dependent on various forms of electronic communication and collaboration tools in your personal life. We share and consume information through blogs, use social networking to reach out to our friends and families, and participate in professional networks to broaden our knowledge and connections. Sensis reports that 62 per cent of Australian internet users use social media platforms in some form; for many people, these platforms have become the accepted means of interpersonal communication and information sharing. What are the implications for the mining industry? Massive talent and skills gaps, workforce attrition and extraordinary growth in the mining industry have created a sustained demand for new people in the sector. An estimated 62,000 people will be required to fill new mining jobs by 2015. Engaging and skilling new employees and connecting them to the rest of the enterprise are critical for meeting ongoing production demands. Managing the workforce knowledge base is a key challenge, given the high rate of employee turnover and limited pool of experienced workers. The future workforce needs to be managed to ensure the right knowledge and information is available and accessible. Employers must also create accessible avenues to ensure that enterprise knowledge is recorded and retained for the future. Knowledge and information management challenges faced by mining companies include: z collaboration and co-creation in a geographically distributed and diversified work environment z connecting information silos z meeting the mobility and real-time expectations of the next generation of workers.

Engaging and skilling new employees and connecting them to the rest of the enterprise are critical issues in meeting ongoing production demands

Social networking offers a common solution to these challenges. It will allow industry to: z identify and leverage employee skills search and locate employees with the right skills in real time across all boundaries and deploy them effectively to solve immediate production issues across the enterprise; z manage enterprise knowledge engage the skills of employees more effectively, as mining enterprises are vulnerable to a drain or gap in ongoing knowledge which must be captured and made accessible to all new employees; z connect the value chain enhance the way people in the value chain work together, and build better integration between people by building integrated value chain processes, not just processes built on functional silos; and

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MINING & TECHNOLOGY AUSTRALIA 2011 | ISSUE 3

z drive innovation open discussion and debate to drive rapid development of ideas for innovation without this, these ideas would be lost before they could be acted upon. Mining enterprises need to look beyond traditional collaborative forums and intranet portals to address the shortage of experienced staff and enable direct engagement with their employees. There is great potential within the existing workforce; enabling more effective collaboration will unleash a new breed of smart miner. Facebook, for example, is widely criticised and blocked by many organisations, but it is still the largest social media site on the internet, with over 500 million users worldwide. People contribute 30 billion pieces of content to the site to share with their peers. A secure internal Facebook-like facility could use familiar social media tools to form a community within a mining company where engineers, mechanics, operators and other groups across the globe and the organisation can join to exchange ideas, ask questions, share experiences, share documents and collaborate in real time. Such communities within a company have been shown to improve efficiency and productivity in several energy and mining

companies, including Shell and Rio Tinto, where communities of practice have become critical to their operations. Rio Tinto head of technology and innovation, Preston Chiaro, says communities of practice represent a significant shift in the companys culture. Miners are becoming more interdependent, and relish finding solutions from among their peers. Social media is all the more powerful when combined with advances in mobility and positioning. Mobile devices enable miners to use an internal, secure social media site on their iPhones, iPads or other mobile devices from any remote location across the globe in real time, providing immediate access to critical operational information, such as safety hazards, danger zones, emissions limits and asset performance. With geographic positioning technology, this information can be tailored to a specific location, prioritising the relevant information while enabling others within the community to provide location-based assistance, no matter where they are. This technology can be used to enhance risk management and safety, which are critical to every mining enterprise. Relevant data in the form of procedures and location-based guidelines can be extracted and assessed using mobile devices and social media applications. A commitment to the use of mobile devices to access real-time data at remote locations, along with the application of enterprise social networking technology, will not only improve efficiency and productivity but also connect miners to their colleagues located around the globe. They will become smarter miners; their connection will facilitate innovation within the organisation and help to alleviate feelings of isolation experienced by many people working in remote locations. n

Employers must create accessible avenues to ensure that enterprise knowledge is recorded and retained for the future

Gerard Siromani is the National Manager for the Resources Sector for Infosys Technologies Australia. Rob Ritchie advises on business systems and global collaboration within the mining sector.

SOCIAL NETWORKING AT WORK

A recurring problem in the brakes of a bulldozer in Rio Tintos Bengala coal mine was resolved through social collaboration with maintenance engineers in another Rio Tinto operation in California. They had spent almost a year finding a solution for exactly the same problem the engineers in Australia were experiencing, and were able to offer a quick solution a clear demonstration of the value of collaboration across the globe and within the organisation.

MINING & TECHNOLOGY AUSTRALIA 2011 | ISSUE 3

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