i-Tech 7, Subsea 7’s Life of Field business unit, and Shell International Exploration & Production Inc., have entered into a collaborative technology agreement on Feb. 18 to accelerate subsea digitalization, initially for a period of five years from the fourth quarter of 2019.

The agreement will help fast-track innovation and streamline the adoption of applied technologies in areas such as marine robotics, advanced sensing, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems to address the industry’s challenges to improve safety, cost-efficiency and sustainability.

“This partnership extends our on-going relationship with Shell for the provision of subsea life of field services. Both companies share a common vision for safe, efficient and optimized offshore operations and this partnership will help accelerate the development and deployment of digital asset integrity management services to support Shell’s offshore assets in the region,” Steve Wisely, senior vice president for i-Tech 7, said.

“Digitalization will support Shell to become a world-class investment case by improving our productivity, reliability and performance as well as reducing the costs of our assets,” Christian George, Shell vice president of Wells, Deep Water and Surface Engineering Technology, said. “We are delighted to extend our strong operational partnership with Subsea 7’s Life of Field business unit into the area of technology development."