A digital trailblazer paves the way for others, driving innovation and creating substantial impact in the subsurface geoscience community.
At the Dig X Subsurface conference in Oslo this December, the Digital Trailblazer Award 2025 will celebrate such a pioneer.
We are happy to announce Morten Ofstad, Chief Software Architect at Bluware, as a nominee.
Ofstad has been working with computer graphics and programming since high school. As one of the first employees at Norwegian game developer Funcom in the early 1990s, he built the engine behind the company’s early 2D titles. His deep knowledge of 3D graphics, image processing, and system architecture laid the foundation for his later impact in subsurface technology.
That impact is most visible through his co-creation of the Volume Data Store (VDS), now the industry standard for seismic data storage and cloud-based AI workflows in the Open Subsurface Data Universe (OSDU) – an open, cloud-native standard that breaks down data silos.
VDS enables efficient interaction with massive multidimensional datasets, using compression techniques and architectural principles originally honed in computer graphics.
This technology allows geoscientists to explore seismic data interactively, perform complex analyses faster, and gain insights while preserving data fidelity.
Ofstad has not only delivered breakthrough technology but also helped ensure its adoption. He has been an active contributor in the OSDU seismic data definition working group, providing guidance and support to operators and vendors, and representing the community at conferences, workshops, and panels.
His contributions have been central to making VDS a trusted solution used by major IOCs such as Shell, ExxonMobil, and TotalEnergies.
Colleagues describe him as a “silent force” – humble yet visionary, generous in sharing ideas, and highly collaborative. With his blend of technical brilliance and approachability, Morten Ofstad has shaped not only a breakthrough technology but also a community around it.
