SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ―IBM on Monday revealed an alliance with the venerable Louvre Museum to use sensors, real-time data analysis and other Internet Age tools to make the museum smarter.

IBM’s “building whisperer” has been listening to the Louvre to make the famed Paris museum better at protecting art, saving energy, and staying open for its millions of annual visitors.

“It is not a job; it is a mission,” said IBM industry solutions vice president David Bartlett, whose passion for figuring out how to make places more efficient has earned him the nickname “the building whisperer.”

“If you listen to a building holistically, there are all kinds of opportunity for improvement,” Bartlett told AFP. “The Louvre has told me that it is a complex network of systems within systems.”

A recent acquisition allowed IBM to upgrade software installed as part of a deal made years ago to enable the Louvre to more efficiently manage maintenance, repairs and other aspects of running the museum, according to the U.S. technology titan.