DATA MANAGEMENT: Priority on rise to keep track of exploration data

TORONTO – Managing data has become a critical concern in the exploration community, according to a global survey report released by Geosoft Inc.

When Geosoft conducted a similar survey in 2011, only 18% of respondents identified managing exploration data a matter of “critical importance.” Now 44% of them do, with another 38% regarding it as a “top five issue.”

Data was collected from 415 organizations around the globe. The 693 respondents represented a cross-section of roles within resource and energy exploration companies, industry service providers, government and educational institutions. More than 60% were from the mineral resources industry, with the remainder coming from energy (11%), government (9%), educational organizations (5%), and other sectors.

Some key findings:

• Organizations      are shifting data out of the hands of individuals and onto centralized      servers. Forty per cent of respondents now manage their drill hole and      geological data on a centralized server with a folder or file structure,      while 51% manage geophysical and other survey data this way.
• Respondents      want tighter control over their exploration data and a more efficient workflow.      About two out of three would prefer a single commercially available      platform or an in-house solution as opposed to outsourcing their data      management, hiring consultants, or allowing users to manage their own      data.
• Search      tools, complicated workflows, data duplication and dependency on knowledge      experts remain the biggest obstacles to data management.
• Most      organizations spend four to eight hours on data management per week, with      some spending much longer.
• The      two most important outcomes associated with better data management are      increased visibility and transparency for reporting and attracting      investors (38%) and improved discovery rates (25%). Few (7%) considered a      quick return on investment to be the most important outcome.

In summary, the report found that there is a growing need for effective data management in the exploration community in order to attract investors and improve discovery rates. Although organizations are getting better at centralizing their data on a single platform, more work needs to be done to increase data accessibility, reduce duplication, smooth workflows, and lessen dependency on experts.

The survey report is available at Geosoft.com/eims-survey-2013.