Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) will open a Digital Factory in Paris in early 2020 that will bring together up to 300 developers, data scientists and other experts to accelerate the Group's digital transformation. Total's goal is to leverage the capabilities of digital tools to create value in all of its businesses.
The Digital Factory will be tasked with developing the digital solutions Total needs to improve its operations, in terms of both availability and cost; offer new services to customers, notably in the area of managing and controlling energy consumption; extend its reach to new distributed energies; and reduce its environmental impact. Total's ambition is to generate as much as $1.5 billion/yr in value for the company by 2025 through additional revenue and reductions in operating or investment expenses.
"I am convinced that digital technology is a critical driver for achieving our excellence objectives across all of Total's business segments. Total's Digital Factory will serve as an accelerator, allowing the Group to systematically deploy customized digital solutions. Artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT) and 5G are revolutionizing our industrial practices, and we will have the know-how in Paris to integrate them in our businesses as early as possible. The Digital Factory will also attract the new talent essential to our company's future," says Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total, during France's Best Developer contest.
Under the direction of Frédéric Gimenez, chief digital officer of Total and Digital Factory project manager, teams comprising top developers, data scientists, architects and specialists in agile methodologies will work with operating personnel from Total's different businesses in the 5,500-square-meter facility located in the center of Paris. From deep in the city's innovation ecosystem, they will shape the energy professions of tomorrow, focusing on solutions that can be deployed agilely within the Group.
The Digital Factory is a new step in Total's transformation process. It follows on the signature of major partnership agreements with Google on artificial intelligence and geosciences and with Tata Consultancy Services on Refinery 4.0.