29.04.2019
2 minutes of reading
We interviewed Élodie de Vanssay de Blavous to discuss her role as digital technology ambassador at IFPEN as well as the role digital technology plays in her everyday work.
What does your role as digital technology ambassador entail?
Elodie de Vanssay de Blavous: IFPEN’s digital transformation adventure was launched by IFPEN’s General Management in 2017. The digital ambassadors’ mission was defined at the same time: a working group made up of 12 recent employees drawn from across the divisions, set up to reflect on initiating an evolution in the company’s operating and working methods, digital technology being one of the tools underpinning this transformation. We conducted a review of what already existed at IFPEN and identified where we needed to be. As a result, we came up with around sixty proposals. Stemming from this action plan, in 2018, a permanent “digital transformation” mission was established. Today, the digital ambassadors’ group - an almost equal split between men and women - represents the link between projects implemented as part of the road map built with General Management and all our employees. So the digital ambassadors are responsible for relaying information concerning this road map. The role is both “top-down”, in that the ambassadors contribute to the creation and implementation of the digital technology road map, and “bottom-up”, insofar as they pass on feedback and suggestions to steering committees. This helps ensure that the projects developed within the framework of the road map reflect a real need on the part of teams.
Does digital technology also have a role to play in your job?
E.V.B.: I work in the Safety, Environment and Activity Support Division (DSES), which manages IFPEN’s real estate and facilities and its environment. Digital technology plays an important role in our activities, be it in terms of the work we do with other divisions (Information Systems Division, Corporate Relations and Communication Division, etc.) or our property management activities. As Energy Manager, I work with equipment that measures energy consumption and generates a considerable volume of data. Thanks to new digital technologies, we are better able to manage and understand these data flows, giving us more time to interpret and introduce energy action plans stemming from this analysis, thereby optimizing energy consumption. These plans will then form part of the company’s overall property master plan, which determines building construction or refurbishment (insulation, replacement of heating systems, lighting systems, etc.), as well as anything to do with energy consumption and autonomous local energy production.
What do you appreciate most about your role as an IFPEN digital technology ambassador?
E.V.B.: What I enjoy most about this role is the experience-sharing with colleagues from divisions I would not necessarily have had any contact with otherwise. I am learning so much about the company as a whole, the professions and my colleagues. Intellectually, from my point of view, it’s a considerable source of knowledge, and that includes digital technology: we all have our pet subjects. I also love the collaborative nature of the role: digital technology ambassadors represent a group where everyone wants to see things evolve for the community; it’s extremely galvanizing. The human element is very important; digital technology brings together people within the company, allows them to communicate more easily and provides a vehicle for feedback between divisions. It also makes it possible to capitalize on good practices.