TIGF, a subsidiary of Total, is a major player in the transportation of gas in France. TIGF constructs and operates over 5000 km of pipelines spread across 15 counties in southern France. In order to comply with the requirements of a Decree on 4th August 2006, regulating the safety of pipelines, TIGF established a technical assistance mission in order to assist its project team in the choice and implementation of future GIS tools within the TIGF IT environment. This assistance consisted of 7 key steps, spread over a period of 17 months:

• Collecting the requirements from all entities (6 central and 15 regional branches and sectors), analysis and structuring according to technical jobs and major activities

• Comparative analysis of various GIS tools (and their technical components) on the market. On the basis of meetings with the principal GIS editors having energy transportation experience, recommendations on the best-suited tools in light of the requirements collected

• Development of functional specifications of the future tool and definition of general architecture

• Drafting of technical specifications to support the consultation procedure (European tender) for the acquisition of a GIS tool

• Drafting of technical specifications for the acquisition of cartographic reference maps (topographic maps, road maps) and the study of image sources (aerial, satellite)

• Monitoring the whole process from the publishing of the tender to the awarding of the contract, through to providing answers to technical questions and evaluations of the tenders received

• Preparation of technical documentation governing the functioning and use of the GIS tool; documentation including operating procedures (also support training)

• Definition and supervision of the tool deployment plan on the TIGF computing infrastructure, taking into account the constraints (of TIGF and the selected service provider), specifics of the tool, architecture and the necessary resources and deadlines

Definition and supervision of a training plan to accompany users during the first months. This training plan, established in collaboration with TIGF and the tool service provider, will take into account the profiles of users, their status and geographical location, resource requirements and deadlines.