How to create a culture of innovation

Innovation has always been part of Aramco’s day-to-day activities of producing oil reliably, but it was in 2001 that the Company set out to formally encourage innovation and capture some of the intellectual property (IP) involved.

Alongside a focus on building its patent portfolio, Aramco also began developing an infrastructure to encourage and nurture new ideas.

The Company launched awareness campaigns and asked staff to submit ideas to a dedicated innovation portal. An Innovation Board was set up to measure innovation performance. And processes were put in place to protect ideas through patents, with monetary incentives for inventors.

Prioritize ideas

Innovation in a company isn't just about technological breakthroughs.

Right from the outset, the Company's Innovation Board called on employees across the business to identify ways to improve their work - whether it was a plant worker solving a problem by changing a component, or a marketing employee thinking how to improve the reach of social media posts.

“What's been surprising to us is the acceleration of innovation,” says chief engineer Dr. Jamil J. Al-Bagawi, who is also chairman of the Innovation Board. And that has been boosted in recent years by setting key performance indicators for every department, resulting in an increase in participation from 20 percent of employees in 2018 to more than 60 percent in 2020. In 2020, some 60,000 new ideas were submitted by employees, with more than 9,000 implemented. The implemented ideas saved or generated $400 million.

For game-changing, patentable ideas, investment in hard-core science and technology is key. In 2011, the Company created the position of chief technology officer, reporting straight to the CEO, embedding research into the organization.

About 75 percent of patents come from the Company's research centers. In addition to those at Dhahran headquarters - Research & Development Center and EXPEC Advanced Research Center - the company has built a network of 10 global labs; the most recent in Moscow in 2018. They are located near talent hubs to attract the best expertise. Houston has capabilities in oil and gas technologies, for example, while Detroit has a history in automotive R&D, and South Korea has a focus in sustainability technologies.

The Company also works and collaborates with leading academic organizations and research institutions. It has acquired companies such as SABIC, which has a wealth of IP itself, with expertise in chemicals and polymers. And it has a venture capital arm that has supported top companies in fields such as 3D metal printing and sensor development.

Dr. Samantha Horseman, who has been with Aramco since 1997, is one of those talents. Currently working at Wa'ed, the Company's entrepreneurship center, she has some 60 granted patents with more pending, and several are licensed to other companies. A leader in the field of human-machine interface, her innovations include wearable technology that can help predict accidents, injuries and diseases before they happen, using predictive algorithms and machine learning.

Given her experience of taking ideas to market, Horseman joined an effort to support others to do the same. The result is an end-to-end support framework for entrepreneurs via Wa'ed, which Aramco founded as a wholly owned venture in 2011. Since its founding, Wa'ed has enabled the Kingdom's start-up culture, with services that support local entrepreneurs with training and start-up funding.

Among the center’s offerings are a three-day Innovation Professional Certification course, an e-factory to develop prototypes, a six-month business incubator program, and the Innovation Ecosystem Society, an accredited professional grouping of 1,500-plus creators, entrepreneurs and investors that has regular meet-ups and provides opportunities for mentorship and partnerships.

All of this is open not just to Aramco employees, but also within Saudi Arabia and the region.

“I believe we’ve really become the talent driver and feedstock of investable companies,” adds Horseman, Wa’ed’s innovation ecosystem lead.