TotalEnergies - Enterprise Tech Ecosystem Series

TotalEnergies - Enterprise Tech Ecosystem Series

Summary

TotalEnergies SE (formerly known as Total SA) is an integrated multinational energy company with operations spanning the entire oil and gas chain from exploring and producing crude oil and natural gas to transporting and refining oil and gas, trading international oil, and marketing petroleum products. The company also produces specialty petrochemicals and power generation with considerable renewable energy operations. The company supplies feedstock to refineries, charters ships, and undertakes trading on various derivative markets, as well as caters to consumers in transportation, automotive, aerospace, energy, housing, and manufacturing industries. It has operations across the Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East, North America, and Central America. The company announced a name change to TotalEnergies in May 2021 to reflect its investments in green electricity production.

In 2017, Total partnered with Tata Consultancy Services to form a digital innovation center in India. Both companies will combine their technology expertise to explore disruptive technologies and solutions. The initial focus of the innovation center will be toward improving refinery performance using various disruptive technologies, such as AI, real-time data analytics, and IoT.

Launched in 2015, Plant 4.0 is a corporate incubator established by Total for accelerating the deployment of key technology themes under focus for the company, including IoT, big data, cloud computing, sensors, and automation in its industrial operations. The objective is to identify the startups that conform to Industry 4.0 and allow them to test their technology, services, and products on the company’s operations.

CSTJF, located in Pau, France, is Total’s technological hub and scientific research center where research and development (RandD) activities are carried out to support its EandP branches worldwide, maximize their production capabilities, and develop new projects quickly and cost-effectively. CSTJF hosts an advanced laboratory infrastructure and a powerful, high-performance computing center, which is easily accessible to Total’s EandP entities over a private broadband network, enabling continuous flow of information between CSTJF and other Total EandP entities.

Total has plans to open a new Research and Innovation Center in Paris-Saclay, which will be officially inaugurated in 2022. The company’s RandD department team members will move to this center, which will focus on two areas: digital (especially AI) and low-carbon power management.

Prospective Labs consists of the surveying and research team from Total’s RandD division, mainly focused on identifying and testing emerging technologies that have been deployed in other sectors, could bring potential change when applied in the company’s EandP branches. For instance, membranes that were developed by food processing industries are used in Total’s water treatment processes, and graphic cards that were initially created by video game developers can be used to speed up high-performance computing.

Launched in 2017, Total Booster is a corporate entity that acts as an accelerator to support its other business lines to accelerate innovation and digital projects, as well as encourage digital transformation. The Booster program has six innovation lines, including digital projects acceleration, new ideas incubation and intrapreneurship, open innovation, corporate garage, learning and discovery, and collective efficiency for enabling employees involved in this program to test and roll-out new technologies, source new ideas, and participate in acceleration bootcamps.

This report provides insight into TotalEnergies' digital activities, including its digital transformation strategies, its innovation programs, its technology initiatives, its estimated ICT budget, and its major ICT contracts.

Scope

• TotalEnergies (Total) continues to lookout for emerging tech startups that are keen on developing technology solutions that can help it address key operational and business challenges. Total explores partnership possibilities; acquires minority stakes in startups through its venture arm, TotalEnergies Ventures; provides loans to startups through Total Development Régional; conducts proof-of-concept testing; mentors startups; and co-develops with startups to create unique solutions.
• Total initiated several innovation programs and development centers for fostering innovation. For example, the company set up ‘The Booster’ digital and innovation lab, which aims to stimulate innovation and accelerate digitalization. The company also set up an Industry 4.0 incubator to focus on key tech themes, including IoT, big data, cloud computing, and automation for its industrial operations.
• Total is building a collaborative environment within the organization. For this, the company is seeking to have an always-connected employee system by allowing a bring-your-own-device concept, enabling remote accessibility and distance working, and carrying out business transactions over enterprise mobile apps.
• Total is strengthening its digital culture by training its employees on digital technologies. For example, its Digital Passport program allows employees to understand and gain expertise on the latest digital trends and to support digital transformation in the group.
• Total is transforming its subsurface operations with high-quality seismic imaging, high-end computing, and analytics. For seismic data acquisition, the company launched two projects, METIS and GAIA. METIS is aimed at improving the speed and quality of seismic data acquisition and generating predictive 3D models. The company’s carpet recording method enables oceanic environment exploration with DART wireless geophysical sensors dropped by drone fleets. GAIA, on the other hand, is for processing and interpretating data collected from the sensors using high-performance computers.

• Gain insights into TotalEnergies' tech operations.
• Gain insights into its digital strategies and innovation initiatives.
• Gain insights into its technology themes under focus.
• Gain insights into various product launches, partnerships, and acquisition strategies.