Axora's ‘Cost-Saving Technology Challenge‘ was launched at a time when budget cuts have been slashed due to factors such as the global pandemic, said the company.

The competition is open to entrepreneurs, start-ups, academics and sector leaders, with the winner to be awarded a sales and marketing package worth £10,000 (US$13,800).

However, the proviso is that the solutions must reduce costs fast, paying for themselves in a 12-month timeframe while achieving the same or improved productivity.

"While digital solutions can help to get work done quicker and more cost-effectively, they typically require a three-year ROI, and if there's no flexibility in the budget, a full budget planning cycle is needed to get things moving", said Dr. Nick Mayhew, chief commercial officer, Axora.

"Yet, extra financial cost is often incurred in delaying digital projects, so customers have asked us to highlight solutions that can have an ‘in year payback' whereby the cost spent on the solution and deployment will be more than recovered within the budget year - this accelerates the timeline and drives positive business impact."

The criteria for any entry is that it meets the 12-month payback timeframe; can be deployed in any part of the value chain including upstream, downstream or midstream oil and gas, metals processing or mining; and is ready for market.