The 10 best in-class smart grid tech solution providers 2018

10
RIDTECH SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2018
BEST IN CLASSTHE
e-mobility and SmartGrid
E-Mobility: Pioneering Transportation
with Smart Grid
Digi Connection
Beneﬁts of Blockchain in the
making of a Smarter Energy Grid
June 2018
www.insightssuccess.com

Organizations that
are changing the
way we live
lectricity demand throughout the world is steadily increasing, causing high power system loading
Eresulting in overstressed system equipment. Public interest groups are putting pressure on
politicians to reduce CO2 emissions through the adoption of alternative energy sources and put in
place regulations to increase energy efficiency.
The traditional or conventional non-renewable resources are undoubtedly insufficient in such condition.
The hunt for more efficient and sustainable resources or options to reduce electricity usage has become
more tempting than ever before. Hence, the power system will need to become smarter at balancing
demand and supply.
The major electric power industry stakeholders i.e. utilities, vendors, manufacturers, regulators, consumers
and their advocates, and governments recognize the need to address challenging issues that are motivating
to find a better option like developing and implementing the smart grid and its elements.
Smart grid is widely recognized as the future of modern electrical power systems. It involves modernizing
existing networks, changing the way they operate, facilitating changes in the behavior of energy
consumers, providing new services, and supporting the transition to a sustainable low-carbon economy.
The adoption of Smart Grid devices throughout utility networks can effect tremendous change in grid
operations and usage of electricity over the next two decades.
Many smart grid advocates cite some or all of its following attributes as representative of its promise.
According to them the smart grid is highly efficient and capable of meeting increased consumer demand
without adding infrastructure. It is accommodating as it accept energy from virtually any fuel source,
including solar and wind, as easily and transparently as coal and natural gas; capable of integrating any

and all better ideas and technologies (energy storage technologies, for example) as they are market-
proven and ready to come on-line.
Additionally it enables real-time communication between the consumer and utility so consumers can
tailor their energy consumption based on individual preferences, such as price and/or environmental
concerns. With real-time assistance the system is also capable of delivering the power quality
necessary, free of sags, spikes, disturbances, and interruptions, to power our increasingly digital
economy and the data centers, computers, and electronics necessary to make it run.
The feather on hat feature of smart grid it is slowing the advance of global climate change and
offering a genuine path toward significant environmental improvement in the impact of electric
power serving humanity.
Hence, the industry is creating new opportunities and markets by means of its ability to capitalize on
plug-and-play innovation wherever and whenever appropriate. Many companies around the world are
trying to leverage the potential opportunities held by this sector.
So, in the issue of “The 10 Best-In-Class SMART GRID Tech Solution Providers, 2018”, we have
highlighted some of the most renowned organizations around the world which are working round the
clock to provide best in class smart grid solutions.
Our shortlist of companies includes, Kalkitech, a smart grid solutions provider that helps energy
utilities across the globe to improve energy efficiency; OhmConnect, which is a software-based
power plant which pays households to reduce their energy use; Power Ledger, which is the world
leading peer-to-peer marketplace for renewable energy; Sympower, a demand response aggregator
that connects electrical appliances with the electricity grid, providing grid operators low-carbon
balancing services and reserves; ZOME Energy Networks, Inc., which provides software and
services for energy service providers, hardware vendors, and infrastructure players. The company
offers various demand response solutions and energy management services for HAN/DR rollouts;
SmartWorks, which provides feature-rich data focused solutions that analyze a utility’s operational
data; ETAP, a company providing the most comprehensive and widely used enterprise solution for
generation, transmission, distribution, industrial, transportation, and low-voltage power systems;
Smart Hydro Power, which offers complete solutions for off grid solutions and micro grids; and
Limejump, which is connecting trading and data abilities with customers that are generating and
managing energy assets through to energy markets to optimize value throughout.
Also don’t forget to flip through some insightful CXO’s written by industry leaders and articles
penned by our in-house editorial team
Happy Reading!
Kaustav Roy

ETAP
Powering the Smart Grid14
Contents
Digi Connection
Beneﬁts of Blockchain in the making
of Smarter Energy Grids 16
Articles
38
24
Kalkitech
Delivering Smart Grid
Technology Globally
20
Smart in Vision
Be Smart – or Vanish
Why Utilities need to actively
develop smart Micro-Grids
10
32
46
Tech Perspective
Rising mobile workforce and
its challenges in the mobile-cloud era:
Data & endpoint management
Expert’s Foresight
Beyond Automation:
AI powered Autonomous
Factories of the Future
E-Mobility
E-Mobility:
Pioneering Transportation
with Smart Grid
Editor’s Choice
The Universality of IoT Technology

ZOME Energy
Networks
A Smarter Way to Optimize
Distributed Energy Resources
44
Sympower
Creating a Sustainable Grid
through Demand Management
42
SmartWorks
Unleashing the Power of
your Data
36
Power Ledger
Transforming the World by
Trading Renewable Energy
30
OhmConnect
Connecting Smart Energy
Grids with Homes
28
Limejump
Connecting Energy Trade
with Big Data
22

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CORPORATE OFFICE

Management BriefCompany Name
ETAP
etap.com
Dr. Farrokh Shokooh
President & CEO
ETAP provides the most comprehensive and widely used
enterprise solution for generation, transmission, distribution,
industrial, transportation, and low-voltage power systems.
GridRabbit
gridrabbit.com
Henrik Westergaard
Founder & CEO
TM
The GridRabbit system offers an impressive array of smart
devices, which communicate with each other across the
ZigBeeTM wireless mesh network.
Kalkitech
kalkitech.com
Kalkitech is a smart grid solutions provider that helps energy
utilities across the globe to improve energy efficiency.
Limejump
limejump.com
Erik Nygard
CEO
Limejump is connecting trading and data abilities with
customers that are generating and managing energy assets
through to energy markets to optimize value throughout.
Power Ledger is the world leading peer-to-peer marketplace for
renewable energy.
Smart Hydro Power offers complete solutions for off grid solutions
and micro grids.
SmartWorks provides feature-rich data focused solutions that
analyze a utility’s operational data.
ZOME Energy Networks, Inc. provides software and services for
energy service providers, hardware vendors, and infrastructure
players. The company offers various demand response solutions
and energy management services for HAN/DR/DER rollouts.
OhmConnect
ohmconnect.com
Matt Duesterberg
CEO & Co-founder
OhmConnect is a software-based power plant which pays
households to reduce their energy use.
PowerLedger
powerledger.io
Dr. Jemma Green
Co-founder & Chairman
Smart Hydro Power
smart-hydro.de
Dr. Karl Kolmsee
CEO
SmartWorks
harrissmartworks.com
Brad Atchison
Senior Executive
Vice President
ZOME Energy Networks
zomepower.com
Dr. Alex Papalexopoulos
CEO and Chairman
Prasanth Gopalakrishnan
President, CEO
& Founder
Sympower
sympower.net
Simon Bushell
Co-founder & CEO
Sympower is a demand response aggregator that connects electrical
appliances with the electricity grid, providing low-carbon
balancing services to grid operators.
RID
THE
PROVIDERS 2018
TECH SOLUTION
10CLASS
BEST
IN

Be Smart – or Vanish
Why Utilities need to actively
develop smart Micro-Grids
The energy market is changing
rapidly. This is true not only
for the USA and Europe but
on a global level. Possibly the most
important change is the one towards
more decentralized systems. This is
challenging the utility industry.
Utilities historically have developed
by integrating small microgrids
which grew around mills and other
small-scale generators (today we
would say prosumers). This is why
utilities developed along the entire
value chain: They integrated these
micro distribution grids in a more
stable larger (Transport) grid and
replaced decentralized generation by
more cost-efficient central power
plants. This highly efficient
centralized system was allowing
industrial development as we know
it. At its time it was possibly the only
way to serve large, strongly energy
depending production like steel,
paper or the upcoming chemical
industry. The centralized energy
system did not result from an
oligopolistic market, but the industry
structure derived from an efficient
technical design.
There are several reasons why this
formerly beneficiary system is
challenged today. Not all apply in all
markets but some of them do, so
decentralization of energy markets is
a global trend. Specifically, in most
industrial markets the new energy
regime is driven by politics favoring
small scale, decentral renewable
generation. Subsidies on renewables
devalue existing large thermic power
plants. Even large-scale hydropower
plants do not easily pass strict
environmental and social feasibility
analysis. But independent of any
political setting there is another more
fundamental reason for the growing
competitiveness of a decentralized
energy design. While the first phase
of industrial development is known
for its industrial clusters (often
grown close to energy sources like
coal or water) which shaped many
geographic areas for more than a
century, later phases are much more
dynamic and do less depend on
geographic proximity. Within a
dynamic industry setting where
businesses are set up and closed or
moved somewhere else on a regular
basis a static centralized
infrastructure loses competitiveness.
In many emerging markets this
dynamism as well expands towards
those areas which are today not
connected to the central grid but offer
inexpensive land or new agricultural
products which can be sold abroad at
high prices. Finally, the political will
and the industrial demand for
decentralized systems today
encounter renewable generation even
at small size at competitive costs
compared to large size thermic power
plant. For the most prominent
renewable technology photovoltaic in
the North (with less radiation) this
competitiveness is given only as grid
parity, meaning central generation
plus transport is as expensive as
photovoltaic on site. In the Southern
hemisphere photovoltaic is already a
competitive source empowering
decentralized energy infrastructure.
While decentralized generation has
caught up with centralized generation
plants, distribution systems with a
large portion of decentralized
renewable generation capacity are
often inefficient. There are basically
four reasons for this inefficiency: (1)
Missing price mechanism supporting
grid operations, (2) high costs to
operate such a system stable, (3)
large amount of excess energy
(exported or not being used at all)
and (4) sub-utilized interface
between microgrid and its feeder
system. These are basically the same
reasons that in the last century
supported the centralization of the
grid system. What is needed is an
intelligent or smart decentralized
distribution system.
An intelligent distribution system
with mainly decentralized generation
requires more than smart meters and
it is different from today popular so
June 201810
Smart in Vision

Dr. Karl Kolmsee the CEO of Smart Hydro Power, studied agricultural and
philosophy at the universities of Hamburg and Goettingen, Germany. After his PhD he has
spent most of his professional career in the energy business – ﬁrst as consultant at A.T.
Kearney later as manager at E.ON, Europe’s largest private utility, and member of the board
at Schmack biogas, one of the pioneers of the biogas market in Europe. In 2009 Karl
Kolmsee has been nominated professor for energy management at Applied University of
Kufstein, Austria. His main areas of academic work are international energy markets and
renewable energy. In 2010 he founded Smart Hydro Power to focus on design and
commercialization of kinetic pico hydro power systems with main focus on rural
electriﬁcation for emerging markets like India, Latin America and Eastern Africa. Today Smart
Hydro Power offers complete solutions for off grid solutions and micro grids.
About the Author
June 2018 11

called smart home or home storage solutions. These offer
photovoltaic, battery and basic load management for the
individual household. Some providers of home storage
solutions integrate customers in a community model to
allow exchange of autogenerated electricity. But these
communities are barely more than contract partners
within a fixed price net metering model. Individual home
solutions – even within sales-and-purchase communities
– do not solve any inefficiency issues decentralization
faces. These systems are either completely self-sufficient
– in this case they are expensive – or they rely on central
grid services like a parasite of its host. Sustainable
decentralization requires an intelligent control and
steering mechanism between the households which build
a microgrid.
While there are possibly different steering mechanisms,
establishing a local market with the price as variable that
guides demand and supply according to the aggregated
demand function and the aggregated cost functions
seems promising. Technically this does require a
dynamic forecasting and load management (at least for
major loads which are used in a price-sensitive manner).
At first glance a market model would solve the four
major issues shown above. It would set a price for
photovoltaic and battery storage which would control
demand and thereby reduce necessary installed reserve
storage and generation capacity. This mechanism would
as well be consistent with the functioning of the feeder
grid and could therefore supply itself services to this grid
which would be valued with the same “currency”.
Technically this steering mechanism might be
completely decentralized based on individual processors
in each household like the blockchain technology (once
necessary processing capacity comes down to acceptable
limits) or it might work between a central unit and
individual processors. In either way it steers the local
market place towards an efficient optimum given
generation, demand and battery storage capacity at a
defined point in time.
Micro grids do open (within a given legal framework) a
possibility for traditional utilities to re-define their role
using some of their traditional strengths. But new
entrants can equally well enter this space and perform
wherever the incumbent does not adapt. This gives room
to numerous co-operations between new entrants or
between new companies and the incumbent offering their
services or developing new business models along the
value chain. Incumbent utilities may be smart – or
vanish.
June 201812
Smart in Vision

In the electric power sector, the
demand to take proactive action
rather than simply reacting to
events after they happen is requiring
intelligent applications to provide real-
time predictive power system
simulation, optimization and
automation. Hence, efficient and
content-specific information exchange
embedded with model-driven
engineering systems is essential to the
design and operation of modern
electrical power networks. One
company leading the industry and
raising the bar with every passing year
is ETAP.
Operation Technology, Inc. (ETAP) is
the designer and developer of ETAP
software for modeling, design,
analysis, optimization, monitoring,
control, and automation of electrical
power systems. The company has been
powering success for more than 32
years by providing the most
comprehensive and widely-used
enterprise solutions for power
generation, transmission, distribution,
industrial, transportation, and low-
voltage power systems.
ETAP has been offering intelligent
solutions to the power grid long before
the grid became ‘smart’. ETAP
technology has been built from
modeling to operation; a model-driven
power system platform that acts as a
hub to incorporate all aspects of system
design, analysis, management and
optimization through real-time
simulation and operation.
ETAP Grid™ solution is addressing
the market needs by providing an open
and scalable approach to a smart grid
strategy. ETAP offers industry specific
solutions to proactively reduce peak
demand and optimize network assets,
while assisting distribution networks to
deliver electricity more efficiently,
reliably, securely and economically.
An Inspiring Journey of an
Unflinching Leader
Dr. Farrokh Shokooh founded ETAP
in 1986 and since then has served as
President and CEO of the company.
Farrokh earned his PhD degree in
Electrical Power Engineering from
Louisiana State University in 1979. He
is also a fellow of IEEE and a recipient
of IEEE Third Millennium Medal.
In 1985, Farrokh’s vision was to make
the most capable and intuitive
electrical power system analysis
software utilizing a single platform
with one database. Today, ETAP has
more than 500 employees and
representatives in 75+ countries,
guaranteeing global reach and local
presence.
Unmatched Range of Scalable
Analytics and Integrated Operation
Solutions
ETAP offers an integrated suite of
smart grid solutions in various sectors:
Ÿ Generation: From Renewable to
Nuclear, some of the world’s most
advanced power generation plants
depend on ETAP. In the renewable
sector, ETAP enables designers and
engineers to conceptualize the
collector systems, determine wind
penetration and perform grid
interconnection studies with full-
spectrum power system analysis
calculations for accurate
simulation, predictive analysis,
equipment sizing, and field
verification of wind and solar
farms.
Ÿ Transmission: ETAP’s
Transmission System platform
combines detailed substation
models, network topology, system
analysis, planning, protection and
Supervisory Control & Data
Acquisition (SCADA) and Energy
Management (EMS) into one
common database.
Ÿ Distribution: ETAP’s Distribution
System planning and operation
solution offers a geospatial-driven
platform for today’s smart grids.
ETAP provides an integrated power
system planning, protection, and
Advanced Distribution
Management System (ADMS) for
visualizing, managing, optimizing
and automating - from state to
citywide power distribution
networks.
Ÿ Microgrid: ETAP is used for
detailed analyses and sizing of
(DER) and associated equipment.
Microgrid Master Controller brings
ETAP
Powering the Smart Grid
June 201814

the design to life by connecting the
system model with real-time data. A
mix of DER along with traditional
generation can be included as part
of the ETAP Smart Grid and
Microgrid, offering a coordinated
control between DMS and local
microgrid master controllers.
ETAP’s Presence and Products in
the Smart Grid Domain
ETAP Grid adds intelligent situational
awareness to the power grid operations
by offering a comprehensive smart grid
solution:
Ÿ Grid Modeling & Visualization –
Network model management and
intelligent synchronized network
views, including Geospatial (GIS)
electrical diagrams, Substation
diagrams, and Feeder schematic
views.
Ÿ Analysis & Optimization –
Comprehensive system planning,
optimization, and network analysis
- from Time Domain Load Flow
(TDLF) and Volt/Var Optimization
(VVO) to Contingency Analysis
(CA) and Fault Location, Isolation
& Service Restoration (FLISR).
Ÿ Safety & Protection – Applications
for troubleshooting false tripping
and mis-operation of protective
devices such as impedance relays
and fuses, as well as solutions to
identify and evaluate various
mitigation methods to reduce arc
flash hazards.
Ÿ ADMS – Advanced Distribution
Management System software built
on proven ETAP Real-Time™
platform that integrates with GIS,
eSCADA, OMS and other
applications.
Ÿ iCE™ – Controllers and Remote
Terminal Units (RTU) hardware,
tested with ETAP solutions for
optimal performance, fast response,
and cyber security.
Ÿ iSub™ – Substation Automation
System (SAS) providing protection,
Switching Sequence Management,
Switching Order Management,
automation, and IEC 61850
oriented substation automation.
Ÿ ILS™ – Intelligent Load Shedding
system for industrial and utility
systems from simple demand
response to machine learning,
based on high speed load shedding.
Path to a Smarter Grid
ETAP’s objective is to continue
innovating, adopting, and integrating
new technology in the
software’s core design and
development, as well as address the
specific needs of the industry in some
of the world’s most mission-critical
projects and smart cities.
“It is challenging, exciting, and
rewarding to bring to life a new
product while enabling the
transformation of our customers’
networks into an intelligent, adaptive,
and sustainable grid that provides
reliable and quality energy for their
respective customers. We are
determined to continue developing and
deploying our innovative technologies
to aid electric utilities to reach their
vision of a smarter grid,” states
Farrokh Shokooh, President and CEO
of ETAP.
Dr. Farrokh Shokooh
President & CEO
““ ““
We aim to provide state-of-the-art
products and superior engineering
services by combining advanced
technologies with the highest standard
in quality to achieve overall
customer satisfaction.
June 2018 15

Smarter
Energy Grids
June 201816
Digi Connection

Human beings have always looked up to nature and
made efforts to learn from its basic principles.
Sonars were inspired by dolphins, light bulbs by
fireflies, suction cups by octopus and robots itself to
replicate human beings. One such instance that has been
enthused by microorganisms is distributed ledger
technology (DLT), widely known as blockchain.
“The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of
economic transactions that can be programmed to record
not just financial transactions but virtually everything of
value.”
-Don & Alex Tapscott.
It records transactions between two clients without any
third party authentication which is an efficient process when
it comes to stable data. Blockchain provides data
management without the threat of unauthorized access or
manipulations. It is proving to be a solution for frequent
problems in various fields. Blockchain technology has the
capability to disrupt approximately every industry ranging
from finance, to education to power.
Blockchain Technology in Smarter Grids
One of the areas in the energy industry where blockchain
technology can disrupt the market is smart grids. Lately,
blockchain has been well-thought-out as one of the
developing technologies that can be used for developing
decentralized grid topologies and revising the distributed
management of energy businesses. Blockchain database is
shared by all the nodes in the system. A node is an active
device which can be connected to internet and has an IP
address. Examples of devices include computers, tablets,
phones and even printers. The job of a node is to upkeep the
network by maintaining a copy of the blockchain and
process transactions.
Benefits of Blockchain in Smarter Grids
Blockchain can aid numerous utility industry requirements.
It can act as a foundation stone with the possibility of
disrupting the prevailing ecosystem. With the promotion for
e-vehicles and individuals shifting to electric cars, supply
and demand of energy needs to keep pace. Here blockchain
comes in the scenario with its peer-to-peer interconnectivity
and sharing. This balances the demand from several
foundations and makes the grid smarter by directing
sharing.
As there are small and compact smart grids, consumers with
the help of blockchain can simply trade energy with one
another thus saving time and earning a few dollars. In the
power industry, blockchain technology can ensure a 5D
Impact: decentralization, digitization, democratization,
distribution and deregulation.
Smart Meters
Smart meters are used to record electrical usage. These
meters enable us to monitor our electrical consumption
more precisely which will help consumers make better
energy choices. Through blockchain, clients can directly get
the amount spent which eradicates middleman thus saving
money. This creates a more resilient network for gadgets to
run on. Smart meters can also provide accurate data to the
provider without needing a direct link to the meter of
particular users.
With the help of blockchain, producers of smart grids do
not have to invest a humongous amount. Here the producers
get paid instantly, which leads to less capital expenditure.
Besides this, blockchain can play a serious role in adjusting
power flows through the amalgamation and optimization of
local grids measured by the public or consortium modes. It
can aid in the maintenance of permanent records by
servicers, giving a flawless view of a particular object or
part of infrastructure at any given time. This information
can be retrieved easily as the structure is built on a shared
platform, while retaining the authenticity of the record.
While the possible benefits of the Smart Grid are usually
discussed in terms of renewable energy goals, economics
and national security, it has the potential to help save
money by managing your electricity usage and choosing the
best times to purchase electricity. Consumers can save even
more by generating their power with the help of blockchain.
Lately, due to the speedy growth in the deployment of
DEPs the smart grid organization problems can no longer
be proficiently addressed using centralized approaches,
thus, the necessity for visionary decentralized
methodologies and architectures is widely recognized.
It is assessed that the blockchain technology will add
another $3.1 trillion by 2030. Lately, due to the speedy
growth in the deployment of DEPs the smart grid
organization problems can no longer be proficiently
addressed using centralized approaches, thus, the necessity
for visionary decentralized methodologies and architectures
is widely recognized.
Lastly, blockchain technology may eventually fast-track the
evolution to what the power industry calls a “distributed
world.” It is the sum of both small and large power-
generation structures for communities, businesses and
home. To prosper in capitalizing the potential of distributed
generation and supervising less foreseeable and more
capricious renewable power sources, the trade's
infrastructure must first become more agile and less
centralized.
June 2018 17

The global surge in electricity
consumption has created a dire
need for smart, adaptive power
grids. One company committed to
providing smart grid technology
solutions is Kalkitech.
Founded in 1998, the company has
developed a prolific technology
portfolio of products for power
generation, transmission and
distribution. Kalkitech’s smart grid
technology allows power companies to
bridge the data communications gap
between legacy and smart power utility
field devices and head-end systems.
Kalkitech also helps utilities improve
system reliability and operational
efficiency while extending the life of
legacy SCADA systems. This is
achieved by transforming and
accelerating secure access to real-time
and historical data.
The company’s acquisition of Applied
Systems Engineering (ASE) in 2015
added market-leading substation and
distribution utility communications
protocol testing products to its product
portfolio.
Aiding Global Transformation
Kalkitech helps energy and utility
companies across the globe improve
energy efficiency by providing
standards-based technology products
and solutions in Substation
Automation, Distribution Automation,
Advanced Metering, Wide Area
Monitoring, Power Plant Optimization
and energy IoT management.
The company’s services include
consulting, protocol implementation,
training, testing and validation. It
educates utilities, Original Equipment
Manufacturers (OEMs) and System
Integrators on its own as well as
industry standard smart grid
technologies and their deployment. It
invests extensively in research and
development, collaborates with leading
utilities, and partners with regional
leaders across the globe to provide
industry-leading technology solutions
to customers in over 70 countries.
Kalkitech assists its customers to
reduce time-to-market and save on
R&D time and costs by integrating
technological innovations and
emerging communication standards
into their existing products; thus
helping in extending their product’s
reach and application scope.
Kalkitech has been enabling utilities to
transform and automate operations.
The company understands that during
the evolution of an end-to-end smart
grid, legacy systems will have to
coexist and integrate with new
technologies.
Thus, it designs its solutions to aid in
intelligent utility transformation by
supporting legacy and standards-based
technologies and bridging the
communication gap. In taking this
approach, Kalkitech is well positioned
to meet the utility needs both of today
and of the future.
A Power-Charged Leader
Kalkitech’s strategic direction is
dictated by Prasanth Gopalakrishnan
who is the President, CEO and
Founder of the company.
He is a member of the Bureau of
Indian Standards (BIS) LITD 10 and
has participated in the development of
the IEC 62056 standard.
Prasanth founded the company with
the vision to create an industry leader
in energy optimization and standards-
based communications. To achieve
this, he brought together a team of
professionals who possessed both a
strong technical foundation and had
extensive utility industry experience.
“A key element of the company’s
success is its commitment to product
quality and customer service, which
have helped to build the company’s
reputation,” says Prasanth.
Providing Cutting-Edge Technology
Kalkitech offers top-notch customized
technology services to the energy and
utility industries. Its services group
helps utilities keep pace with
modernization projects and offer the
adaptability to support new and
emerging industry trends. Among its
most marketing-leading products and
services are:
Kalkitech:
Delivering Smart Grid
Technology Globally
June 201820

Ÿ A Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition protocol conversion
engine which consolidates and
translates data from more than 80
vendor-specific and standards-
based protocols that simplify
management of grid assets and
accelerate problem solving.
This technology is offered as a
substation data concentrator as well
as an embedded solution for OEMs
to integrate into their utility
products.
Ÿ Protocol test tools used by
automation engineers to configure,
analyze, test and simulate more
than 70 serial and network SCADA
protocols, simplifying problem
solving and reporting.
Ÿ Metering-related technology: a
field-proven DLMS source code
library available to meter vendors
to conform to the standard for
communications, and a standards-
based low-power radio frequency
wireless mesh communications
network for smart meter vendors to
connect their meters to a head-end
system.
Ÿ A secure, automated fault record
collection and remote configuration
system for relays and other
substation Intelligent Electronic
Devices (IEDs).
Ÿ Power dispatch optimization
software for power transmission,
generation and distribution.
Ÿ Power plant optimization,
diagnostics and analytics software.
Kalkitech also offers consultation
services to assist customers in
integrating its technology as well as
customizing them for specific
requirements.
The support department comprises a
strong technical team of trained and
experienced individuals. Using a well-
defined, multi-tiered support structure,
customer inquiries are reviewed and
addressed in a timely fashion via email
or phone.
With support teams in multiple
locations around the world, Kalkitech
is able to accelerate its response to
customer questions and issues.
The Zenith of Innovation
The latest innovation from Kalkitech is
a solution to help utilities and
industries of all sizes manage the
massive volume of
data generated by
intelligent devices installed
across their coverage area.
Data is only useful if one can do
something with it; Kalkitech has
leveraged its expertise in protocol
translation and data concentration to
develop an IoT platform, kalki.io,
optimized specifically for the energy
market.
Kalki.io collects utility asset data and
offers core device management
services like configuration, software
updates, access control, alerts, and
health monitoring. It simplifies the
addition of third party and customized
applications for secure data access
from advanced analytical applications,
predictive equipment maintenance, and
management of distributed energy
power sources.
Prasanth Gopalakrishnan
President, CEO & Founder
““ ““
Our solutions enable
customers to implement
mission-critical applications
across the Smart Grid
solution spectrum.
June 2018 21

S
mart grid technology is
emerging as the most exciting
new dimension in the power
industry. Businesses are switching to
innovative smart grid tech solutions
because it allows utilities to better
control supply, which means
businesses can manage their energy
use more efficiently, leading to
potential savings. The smart grid
market anticipates rapid growth in the
near future because the worldwide
demand for energy from sustainable
and distributed resources is
increasing. Even power grid
modernization processes are
benefiting from smart grid tech
solutions through reduced
transmission and distribution losses.
This growing demand has created an
excellent opportunity for Limejump
to lead the market.
An award-winning energy tech
company, Limejump has brought a
revolutionary new mindset to the
energy market. It connects power
trading and data abilities with
customers that are generating and
managing energy assets in energy
markets to optimize value throughout
the power ecosystem. Limejump
manages the largest portfolio of
batteries in the United Kingdom and
is demonstrating that the virtual
power plant is the future of energy.
Redefining the Grid and
Management Landscape
Limejump offers a complete asset
maximization package that provides
disparate energy sources with a route
to trading markets. Through big data
and innovation, they have created new
ways to make it simple to earn
revenue while maximizing flexibility.
Limejump also offers market auction
management in the Capacity Market
and is exploring other niche market
opportunities in the UK.
From Challenges to Success
Limejump was founded in 2013 and it
has seen very fast expansion from an
initial team of 4 to 50 people today.
Creating a new business model in the
face of 80 years of established
competitions were a key challenge but
Limejump has established its presence
as one of the largest ‘new’ energy tech
energy companies. It has faced the
UK energy industry’s unique set of
regulatory issues and red tape.
Moreover, the industry has a
reputation for not always having its
customers’ best interests at heart, and
Limejump had to contend with
inherent industry distrust as well.
Overcoming these challenges,
Limejump has been at the forefront of
battery technology in the UK since
2016. In addition to this, it is the only
UK Company named in Bloomberg’s
2018 New Energy Pioneer Top 10 list.
A Dynamic Leader
Erik Nygard and Ning Zang are the
Co-founders of Limejump. Erik is the
company’s CEO.
Erik completed his B.Sc. in Finance
from the University of San Francisco
and his M.Sc. in Energy, Trade &
Finance from Cass School in London.
Prior to Limejump, Eric worked for
Centrica and British Gas. While
working at Centrica, it became clear
to him that people didn’t have options
they would have liked to be more
proactive in electricity management.
This realization that there was a
definite opportunity to provide a
better product for customers was the
first step that led to the founding of
Limejump.
Limejump:
Connecting Energy Trade
with Big Data
June 201822

Erik has led the development of the
Limejump Virtual Power Plant
concept to create the Future of
Energy.
Customer-Oriented Approach
Limejump has a dedicated account
management team that customers can
contact via phone, email and live chat
for general queries, billing questions,
and trading advice. A daily market
alert is delivered to all customers with
the latest trading, pricing, and market
analyses.
The bespoke Limejump customer
portal provides every client with
direct control over their assets and the
ability to inform the Limejump
trading desk of outages or
maintenance requests. It has
developed an internal customer
satisfaction team that monitors
customer feedback, provides insights
into customer concerns, and works to
develop customer-centric programs to
improve customer relations and
retention.
Encouraging Industry Change
The UK energy market has been
dominated by six legacy energy
providers reliant on old carbon-heavy,
inﬂexible, polluting infrastructure.
However, Limejump focuses on
distributed assets with an emphasis on
sustainable energy generation.
It employs the latest technology like
machine learning, big data analysis,
neural network processing and
engineering connectivity. This is
complemented by a core team of
expert analysts, traders and
technologists.
Limejump is able to utilize these
resources to connect assets that would
normally not have an obvious route to
the UK energy grid. Combining these
assets to trade in the UK National grid
encourages new investment in
sustainable energy generation while
identifying potential revenue
opportunities accessible through tech
connectivity.
The company combines the best in
human trading ability with billing
transparency and excellent customer
service to provide optimum beneﬁt to
its customers.
The Future of Energy
Limejump is committed to
transforming sustainable resources
into revenue channels for its
customers. Through this structure, it
leads the technological evolution of
the industry to reduce pollutants and
unsustainable business models with
sustainable resources and encourages
renewable generation investment.
Limejump is driven by data,
engineered by technology, and
powered by a team of committed
experts. It demonstrates every day
that it truly is the future of energy.
Erik Nygard
CEO
““ ““The future
of energy.
June 2018 23

The
Universality
of IoT
Technology
The
Universality
of IoT
Technology
“
The gratifying tool for companies to lead ahead -
IoT Technology” The Internet of things (IoT) is a
revolutionary change for many sectors like
manufacturing, agriculture, retail, electronic, energy and
healthcare which are progressing towards the IoT
phenomenon to connect digitally. It has placed an
opportunity to build unusual results which increases a
company’s compatibility. Enterprises seeking
development are focusing on the use of real-time data
management and IoT analysis. Many of the
companies are adopting this technology to heighten
their power of consumption. Companies are
mainly concentrating on IoT application from
“sensing” instead of “doing” to grow its
competitive advantages. This element empowers
organizations by allowing them to take the IoT
advantage and adopt a more ‘innovative
connected approach’.
Infrastructure Management – Optimization of
Technology
New applications are now enhancing their level of
consumption. Likewise, manufacturing sector is also
June 201824
Editor’s Choice

which land is fertile or which one is dry and predict
future fields.
IoT Technology Helps to Optimize Energy
Consumption
Integrated Sensing and Control system helps to optimize
energy consumption. IoT devices are integrated with
energy consumption systems in order to maintain
balance between power generation and energy usage. IoT
devices offer the opportunity to remotely gather
information. It enables advance functions like remote
controlling and changing light conditions. IoT
Technology work for home-based energy system which
provide power related information, energy consumption
and energy usage at homes. IoT devices set goals to
improve efficiency, reliability and sustainability of the
energy system.
Monitoring Environment through IoT Technology
Environment monitoring application has been involved
with sensors to assist information about environment
changes by identifying water quantity, atmosphere, air
pressure etc. It also has focus on monitoring movements
of wildlife and their habitats. Devices connected to the
internet also provide statistics about earthquake or
tsunami - early warning systems, and also used as an
emergency system. IoT device application is used to
collect geographic information and majorly instructive
information. This device also uses standardized approach
to bring wireless sensing technique and gather finest
information.
IoT Technology Helps to Sustain Building and Home
Automation
With certainty, IoT devices are used to monitor and
control the mechanical, electrical and electronic systems.
IoT devices are used in various types of home
automation and building automation systems. Control
and sensory applications offer unified information. The
integration of the internet with building creates an
energy management system which will allow prominent
energy efficiency.
There have been many ways for IoT technology to
expand compatibility in the digital world, and it will be
implemented in each sector to work as an important tool,
to enhance its affinity. After all, the IoT network makes
technology more unified and satisfying, with its tools and
applications and IoT will be a step ahead towards
numerous opportunities.
getting engrossed and achieving excellence through IoT
Techniques. Applications are liable for monitoring and
controlling operations for urban and rural manufactures
like bridges, farms, and railway tracks. It is the key
features of the applications were IoT infrastructure is
also used for monitoring the construction safety and risk
management system and operations. This major feature
represents the mechanism of IoT application which
works under infrastructure management. Benefits of IoT
Technology are cost reducing, time reducing, better in
quality, and increase productivity. It helps to make fast
decisions and save money with real-time analysis. IoT
devices help to give prominent results by monitoring and
controlling operations used in all infrastructure related
area.
Manufacturing Techniques are Growing with IoT
Technology
In the manufacturing sector, networking and controlling
have been used with IoT devices. It provides information
about data and operation stability. Network status and the
information is collected in the system by tracking IoT
device. Manufacturing control process deliver
information about industry application and smart
manufacturing details receiving form IoT device. IoT
intelligent system enables sharing information about
product demands, service management, supply chain
networks, sensors and control systems together. Small
industries can also be integrated with IoT technology
that enables real-time optimization, measurements,
production compatibility and safety management.
However, intelligent systems are determined as the
significant technique that implies user experience and
system security which ultimately saves costs.
IoT Technology brings Innovative Farming Methods
The Agriculture sector is one of the industry to
implement IoT technology for stability and better
performance. IoT technology has become a significant
method of farming. It also offers durability and
functionality to the whole process. The combination of
wireless sensors with agricultural apps and cloud
platforms benefits in gathering definite information
relating to environmental conditions like, rainfall,
temperature, humidity, wind speed etc. Farmers are
getting competent results out of it, and are able to find
real-time information easily. Linked with farmland, it
improves and automates farming techniques like weather
information, taking decision on quality and quantity, and
minimizes risk and waste. With IoT Tech farmers can
find out detailed information of farm and similarly know
June 2018 25

The average annual electricity
consumption for a U.S.
residential customer in 2016
was 10,766 kilowatt-hours (kWh), an
average of 897 kWh per month. This
gigantic consumption of energy leads
to the construction of more energy
grids which, in turn, lead to increased
carbon emissions. OhmConnect
lends a helping hand by encouraging
control of this consumption.
OhmConnect is a software-based
power plant located in San Francisco,
California. It pays households to
reduce their energy use when the
electric grid is stressed and when
power has to be supplied from
expensive and pollution-heavy
sources.
The company’s state-of-the-art
software product coordinates energy
sharing events with residential utility
customers, allowing users to respond
to #OhmHours. The software
achieves this by making behavioral
changes like turning off lights and
other automated actions through
smart devices connected to the
OhmConnect platform.
Crafting Smart Energy Usage
OhmConnect envisions a world
where customers’ homes are
connected directly to the electricity
grid, and this inspires its mission
statement: automagically creating the
smart energy future.
Using OhmConnect, smart home
devices communicate with each other
and with the grid to save energy,
making smart decisions to unlock the
full value of customers’ energy
usage. Energy sharing is a way for
grid operators to balance supply and
demand by allowing customers to
shift their energy usage in response
to real-time peak events.
When demand exceeds the forecasted
supply of energy, customers are
prompted to respond in real-time
through smart home networks to save
energy. One way is by waiting to
perform energy-intensive activities
until after that peak event.
The Leader’s Part in Progress
Matt Duesterberg is the CEO and
Co-founder of OhmConnect. Matt
has focused his efforts on sharing the
myriad benefits of OhmConnect with
the energy world, in building its data
infrastructure, and growing the
platform’s user base.
He started his career in the energy
industry trading electricity flow
futures for a small quantitative
trading firm, DC Energy. With his
experience, Matt realized that there
was a fundamental need within the
energy industry to bring expertise
from outside the energy sector to
solve problems common in other
industries, including in consumer
engagement, marketing, and software
services.
When he started OhmConnect in
2014, no pathway existed to pay
users for reducing electricity usage,
but that concept was incredibly
valuable to the grid. Matt and the
OhmConnect team helped to lay the
groundwork through which they pay
customers in San Francisco,
California and Ontario, Canada.
Confronting the Challenges
One of OhmConnect’s biggest
challenges is to ensure that there is a
regulatory environment that can
reflect what the grid needs. To
overcome this hurdle, the
organization relies on three primary
regulations to facilitate its business
model: access to data from smart
meters (with customer consent),
payment of megawatts on the energy
grid, and a competitive approach to
electricity products.
OhmConnect has and will continue
to face opposition from existing
policies that unintentionally prevent
it from participating in the market for
a variety of reasons. The organization
has faced this previously in 2016 and
has utilized its user base as a political
advantage that helped in relieving
that risk.
OhmConnect continues to grow its
policy and regulatory team that helps
shape these policies to enable a
smarter energy future. Its journey has
OhmConnect:
Connecting Smart Energy
Grids with Homes
June 201828

been enlightening as forerunners
have created and modified policies
that enable OhmConnect to exist.
Ensuring Optimal Efficiency
OhmConnect focuses on customer
satisfaction and building a product
that encourages ongoing
participation, high referral rates, and
the highest Net Promoter Score
(NPS). The product has evolved into
one that serves users in a
personalized manner; it identifies
which areas of the experience will
resonate with an individual and
draws their attention to those feature
sets.
OhmConnect executes this primarily
by analyzing a user’s baseline energy
consumption and categorizing users
by behavioral profiles, which is a key
indicator of the programs they might
enjoy most. This also allows users to
respond and participate in
#OhmHours in the most efficient
manner by setting their desired
hours, frequency, and the rewards
that they receive.
Contributions to a Cause
As an energy-sharing service,
OhmConnect encourages users to
consciously consider how they
consume energy, both as individuals
and within the larger community.
When more energy is needed than
was initially planned for,
OhmConnect users are called in the
place of peaker plants to meet this
unexpected demand. Instead of
keeping lights switched on or air
conditioning units running, users
share their energy with those in the
community who are using more than
expected.
Users are then paid for reducing the
amount of energy they are pulling
from the grid. OhmConnect therefore
acts as a residential energy-sharing
program, leveraging demand
response, and has proven that
residential homes will respond both
frequently and consistently when
called, if provided with the right
incentive.
OhmConnect allows users to respond
to #OhmHours by making behavioral
changes like switching off devices, as
well as taking automated actions by
connecting their smart devices to the
OhmConnect platform.
The company’s mission statement,
‘Automagically creating the smart
energy future’,
encapsulates its goals
for a smart, connected
world, bridging the gap
between the smart home and the
smart grid. Using OhmConnect,
devices automatically communicate
with each other and with the grid to
save energy, and make smart
decisions to unlock the value of
citizens’ energy usage.
Expansion of Empowerment
Over the past few years,
OhmConnect has been focusing
intently on expanding its footprint
within California. In the next few
years, the company envisions
enormous opportunities in new
energy markets, including Toronto,
Texas, New York, the eastern
seaboard, and the Midwest.
Each region has its own unique
energy market and the company is
keen to empower every energy
customer to get paid for making
smarter energy decisions.
Matt Duesterberg
CEO & Co-founder
““ ““OhmConnect is a free
service that rewards you for
saving energy at specic
times.
June 2018 29

The idea of ‘trading’ renewable
energy has created an
additional factor other than
conservation of environment, which
instigates consumers to voluntarily
use renewable energy. A recognized
platform that has enabled consumers
to conduct direct trade of renewable
energy is Power Ledger.
The software platform uses
blockchain technology to enable
consumers to buy and sell renewable
energy directly between one another,
which is referred to as ‘peer-to-peer
trading’. The platform was created to
link the consumers’ solar panels in a
marketplace so that renewable energy
can be low-cost, low-carbon and
owned and sold by individuals and
communities all over the world.
Through Power Ledger, individuals
can be enabled to maximize the return
on their renewable energy and also to
enable those who wouldn’t have
access otherwise, to buy renewable
energy at more affordable prices.
Ultimately, this technology aims to
remove the reliance on central power
stations and prevent developing
nations from having to invest in
expensive infrastructure.
An Empowering Platform
Since the electricity power industry
was modeled only for central players
to feed the energy supply, consumers
producing energy don’t get fair value
for their investment. The Power
Ledger platform allows consumers to
receive the benefits of these
investments, either by selling their
excess energy through the Peer-to-
Peer Trading Application or by
contributing to Asset Germination
Events. By using POWR tokens,
consumers are able to help fund large
renewable energy assets such as a
battery or solar farms, and make a
passive income off those investments
using this platform.
The platform can also be used to
support Microgrids, with the best
known live example being its
partnership with Tech Mahindra in
India. Power Ledger is being used
across Tech Mahindra campuses in
India where consumer data is being
used to prove the accuracy and
security of the trading platform. This
platform enables village-to-village
trading through which communities
can break their dependence on single
grids and trade energy in a peer-to-
peer fashion.
The Leaders of Transformation
Power Ledger has a total of five Co-
founders, namely Dr. Jemma Green,
Dave Martin, Jenni Conroy, John
Bulich and Gov van Ek.
Prior to founding Power Ledger, the
Co-founder and Chair Dr. Jemma
Green worked as an investment
banker at JP Morgan in London.
During her time in London she
studied Sustainability Leadership at
Cambridge University. She’s currently
a research fellow at Curtin University
Sustainability Policy (CUSP)
Institute. Jemma has experienced the
challenges of sustainable cities
through her role as an independent
Councilor of the City of Perth and,
most recently, as Acting Deputy Lord
Mayor of Perth. She’s also the Chair
of Climate-KIC, Australia.
The Managing Director of the
company, Dave Martin, has over 20
years of experience working in the
energy industry, and co-founder Jenni
Conroy has a cumulative experience
of over 30 years in the industry. The
other two co-founders John Bulich
and Gov van Ek were the co-founders
of an Australian blockchain company
specializing in the creation and
commercialization of technical and
commercial blockchain systems
called Ledger Assets.
An Edifying Journey
Being a startup, the entire team at
Power Ledger was wearing multiple
hats so that they could constantly
manage how to best spend time
answering community questions
about its ICO, while ensuring it
doesn’t diverge too far from its long-
term goals. The progress it has made
Power Ledger:
Transforming the World by
Trading Renewable Energy
June 201830

comes down to the solid legal
framework it has established for the
POWR token.
As a company, Power Ledger doesn’t
believe one can build credibility if
they bypass regulatory environments
and expose stakeholders to potential
risks and liabilities. This is one of the
keystones of the company’s business
and its global partners see this
strategy as a significant benefit.
Delivering Innovation Round-the-
Clock
For Power Ledger’s project partners,
it has a system in place to qualify
leads and provide information about
how to be involved in an available
Power Ledger project. The company
also has a business development team
and a team of analysts who work to
understand the needs of each potential
customer and it tweaks and develops
the platform to suit their specific
needs.
For its community, the company has a
team of moderators who answer
questions 24/7 in Telegram chat
which has 17,000 active users. The
team members are always online to
personally answer questions via
Facebook, Messenger, Reddit,
Twitter, email and more.
Aiding in the Development
As solar panels become more wide-
spread, more and more households are
becoming energy self-sufficient. But
people who can’t afford to install their
own solar PV or battery are left
footing higher bills, which is not
sustainable. Power Ledger platform
helps people who can’t afford to
participate in the distributed energy
economy and who deserve the same
access to low cost, low carbon energy
as the rest of the population. Power
Ledger, is in a position where its
technology is sought after by
companies from around the globe.
“Circumstance has pushed us to
innovate to a point where we’re
leading the way in this industry,”
asserts Dr. Jemma Green.
Paving the Path towards a
Renewable Future
Power Ledger’s focus for 2018 is on
Asset Germination Events and
outreach from the community to
participate in energy generation. Asset
Germination Events
present enormous
potential for developing
countries and also countries
impacted by natural disasters to assist
in rebuilding assets. Another entity
the company has been working on is
an electric vehicle charging platform.
A recent GTM Research report on
blockchain in the energy sector
independently researched Power
Ledger as well as others and ranked
them by means of projects deployed
or planned. The company is leading
the pack with its peer-to-peer energy
trading, electric vehicle charging and
transactive energy solutions. Over the
next 18 months Power Ledger aims to
have the platform being used in 12
jurisdictions and trading 100s of
Mega Watts.
Dr. Jemma Green
Co-founder & Chairman
““ ““
We put the power to manage
the energy economy into the
hands of consumers, while
maintaining the value of
existing distribution networks.
June 2018 31

Data &
Endpoint
Management
Rising Mobile
Workforce
and its
Challenges
in the
Mobile-Cloud
Era:
Mathivanan V
Vice President
ManageEngine
Mobility and cloud
computing are rapidly
becoming the norm for
enterprises around the world. In turn,
enterprise IT departments are facing
new management and security
challenges as the amount of business
data soars and the number of
endpoints explodes. The question
that is doing the rounds is what IT
teams need to consider to manage
and secure their businesses in this
new era.
Industry analysts predict deep
penetration of enterprise
mobility by the year 2020.
IDC, for instance, forecasts
June 201832
Tech Perspective

that mobile workers will account for
almost 75 percent of the total
workforce in the U.S. Meanwhile,
Strategy Analytics projects that the
global mobile workforce will reach
1.75 billion users and account for 42
percent of the global workforce
overall.
The economic perspective is just as
bright as a button. The global
enterprise mobility market will be
worth as much as $140 billion,
predicts the National Association of
Software and Services Companies.
And the investments are paying off.
To date, 84 percent of all companies
who consider themselves on the
cutting edge of mobility report an
increase in overall productivity as a
direct result of incorporating mobile
apps into their business, according to
a survey by AppsFreedom.
Likewise, enterprises are expected to
continue relentlessly adopting cloud
technologies. By 2020, Gartner
forecasts the public cloud services
market will reach $383 billion. This
includes spending on cloud business
process services, cloud application
infrastructure services, cloud
application services, cloud
management and security services,
cloud system infrastructure services,
and of course, cloud advertising.
The flip side of increasing enterprise
mobility and cloud usage is the
increasing risk to enterprise security.
Today, most users have at least two
endpoints – a laptop and mobile
device – and 80 percent of network
devices are be endpoints that are
constantly connected to the internet
and exposed to its threats such as
Meltdown, Spectre, Wannacry, and
Petya.
More troubling, the typical end user
has little knowledge of those threats
or their ramifications. The result is
more users are more likely to leak
enterprise data by using
compromised websites and rogue
online services. The CVE listed
14,712 cybersecurity vulnerabilities
for 2017 and has already listed 2,848
for the first two months of 2018. In
response, vendors large and small are
releasing patches on a daily basis.
Enterprise IT teams clearly need to
focus on endpoint security
management to ensure business
success in the mobile-cloud era.
Endpoint security challenges
Keeping endpoints up to date with
the latest versions of their OSes and
applications has become a full-time
job, one that is getting harder to
perform in the mobile enterprise. A
growing challenge is the diversity of
endpoint operating systems that must
be managed, including Android, iOS,
MacOS, Windows, Linux, and
Chrome OS. For each, the IT team
must learn that OS along with its
corresponding patching technique.
Likewise, applications acquired from
the various app stores are managed
with different techniques that must be
learned and mastered so that the team
can secure the endpoints.
Another challenge is managing the
endpoints from day one, especially
mobile devices. While it’s been
relatively easy for IT admins to
install agent software on desktops
and laptops, smart phones and other
mobile devices make life harder for
the admins because the devices are
rarely if ever connected to the
corporate network. Consequently,
devices must be provisioned with the
necessary mobile device
management software before they are
given to end users. Devices that are
not appropriately managed are
security risks, so no business
application should be installed or run
on them.
Related to the day-one management
challenge is updating endpoints that
are on the go, anytime and anywhere.
IT teams must be able to install
critical patches while employees are
traveling, commuting, or otherwise
offsite.
Data leakage presents yet another
security challenge for IT teams to
overcome. Data leakage can happen
with or without the users’ knowledge.
For instance, users may knowingly
copy business data to a USB device
or upload it to a cloud storage
service. They may also unknowingly
expose that data to a public cloud
service when using third-party apps
such as document viewers and
predictive keyboard apps. Such apps
may compromise user IDs and
passwords, account numbers, and
other sensitive enterprise data by
exposing it to public cloud services.
When a user’s device is lost or
stolen, the IT team must be able to
track and recover the device or wipe
the data if the device isn’t recovered.
To maintain the user’s privacy,
however, the IT team can not
continuously track the location of the
user’s device.
BYOD presents another privacy vs
security challenge: When users use
their own devices for business
purposes, privacy needs to be
maintained. Photos, contacts, and
other personal data should not be
June 2018 33

managed by company’s mobile device management app.
On the other hand, security needs to be maintained, too.
To that end, the IT team should create a container on the
user’s personal device – a secure, managed area that
isolates business email, CRM, and other enterprise apps
and data from the rest of user’s personal apps/data.
To establish strong endpoint security and prevent
unwanted attacks, IT teams must apply strict security
policies on their endpoints. Laptops, for instance, should
always run a firewall, prevent the creation of unwanted
network shares, and encrypt data via BitLocker or
FileVault. Such security policies can protect enterprises
from the security risks posed by mobility.
Predicting the development of data and endpoint
management
Going forward, machine learning and AI will help make
data and endpoint management a proactive, rather than a
reactive process. For instance, these technologies could
prevent data theft by detecting anomalies such as
unusual login activities or an unusually large number of
documents being uploaded to the cloud. They could
analyze the root cause of patch deployment failures and
suggest fixes. They could also detect system idle times
– during lunch hours, for instance – to deploy patches as
soon as possible rather wait until after hours or
weekends, which can leave systems unnecessarily
vulnerable.
Meanwhile, the internet of things (IoT) will introduce
many organizations to a new breed of endpoints and
connected devices. Unlike their iOS- and Android-
powered predecessors, IoT devices will be running many
different OSes and applications, all of which may be
vulnerable yet must be managed and secured.
Finally, most business applications are moving to the
cloud and accessed via browser, effectively making the
browser an endpoint. That means to defend against
attacks, IT teams need to manage browsers and perform
all security operations for them just as if they were
desktops, laptops, or any other device.
As organizations continue to adopt mobility and the
cloud, they must also adopt the practices necessary to
support this new reality. Data and endpoint security and
management are priority one in IT departments. For the
vast majority of companies around the world, their future
success depends on recognizing and committing to that
priority.
June 201834
Tech Perspective

The world’s rapidly growing
appetite for energy and water
resources has left existing
utility infrastructure inefficient,
increasingly unreliable and costly to
maintain. As demand for these
commodities grow, the utility
industry has seen enormous advances
in smart infrastructure and associated
technologies. As these technologies
evolve, utilities are challenged to
determine how to make best use of
their associated data, introducing a
mounting need for smart
infrastructure solutions.
SmartWorks, a division of N. Harris
Computer Corporation, is filling the
void left by traditional solutions.
SmartWorks offers turnkey solutions
that allow utilities to navigate change
by unleashing the power of their
smart infrastructure and the
associated data.
Making the Complex Simple
SmartWorks has over a decade of
experience providing best-in-class
data management and analytics
solutions to more than 300 utilities
throughout North America and the
Caribbean.
SmartWorks provides powerful,
feature-rich solutions that analyze a
utility’s operational data. These data-
focused solutions help streamline
utility processes across a range of
environments. SmartWorks’
solutions are simple to deploy, easy
to operate, and painless to upgrade.
As a result, utility providers get a
cost-effective way to maximize the
return on their smart infrastructure
investments.
The SmartWorks portfolio is
designed to make the complex
simple. SmartWorks’ robust utility
decision management solution,
SmartWorks Compass, seamlessly
converts volumes of data from
disparate sources within the utility
into powerful insights and automated
actions.
SmartWorks’ broad range of
solutions also includes:
Ÿ MeterSense, a scalable and
configurable meter data
management solution.
Ÿ HomeConnect, a sophisticated
web-based customer engagement
solution.
Ÿ BizConnect, an online portal for
Commercial & Industrial energy
and water users.
Ÿ SmartWorks VODA, designed to
assist water utilities with water
conservation metrics, meter data
management, leak detection, and
lost revenue.
Driving Innovation
Shifting regulatory requirements,
fluctuating demand and dwindling
natural resources exert extraordinary
pressure on electric, water, and gas
utilities. To cope with these
dynamic changes, utilities are heavily
investing in intelligent technology,
infrastructure upgrades, renewable
energies, consumer engagement
tools, and social media applications.
However, utilities are unique,
meaning one single solution does not
fit all needs.
SmartWorks helps utilities to adapt to
new technologies quickly and
effectively. SmartWorks develops
easy-to-use solutions based on the
needs of customers within the utility
market. Through their interaction
with Customers, SmartWorks has
come to understand that the smart
grid is not only about smart meters, it
involves the integration of all
existing systems and connected
devices including Supervisory
Control And Data Acquisition
(SCADA) and sensors in the
SmartWorks:
Unleashing the Power of
your Data
June 201836

emerging Internet of Things (IoT).
The insights collected from the
combination of existing systems,
smart infrastructure and IoT sensors
allow the utility to serve its
consumers better. SmartWorks acts
as bridge between engineers,
software experts, and product
specialists to innovate and extract
new applications for their utility data.
A Brilliant Mind
Brad Atchison, Senior Executive
Vice President of SmartWorks, is
the strategic leader responsible for
overseeing SmartWorks’ Product
Development, Business
Development, Professional Services
and Support teams.
Brad has over 20 years of experience
in the utility sector and is intimately
familiar with all realms of the utility
industry. Brad began his experience
working in the utility industry at BC
Hydro, serving as a Financial Analyst
with the Corporate Finance group
and later as the Manager of Market
Information & Analysis in the
industry leading Power Smart
business unit. Brad then worked in
the Harris Utilities Group as a Senior
Application Consultant and later as
Director of Development Services.
Brad’s tenure has given him an
intimate knowledge of smart grid
technologies and strong familiarity
with data analytics.
Brad ensures that SmartWorks is
focused on the delivery of superior
business solutions that meet the
evolving needs of utility providers
and leverage the tremendous
opportunities that exist within the
space. Brad strives to understand the
true challenges of the utility industry
and develop solutions on which
utilities can rely to overcome
business and operational changes.
Brad is also the driving force behind
SmartWorks’ Business Development
initiatives. He was a key player in the
company’s acquisition of DataVoice
International Inc. and Partner
Software. Brad is currently
concentrating on creating and
introducing new integrations that
correlate across multiple systems to
transform the way the world relates
to energy and water.
Future Insights
SmartWorks has joined forces with
Partner Software and dataVoice
International Inc. to collectively offer
a comprehensive suite of utility
solutions in the areas of data
analysis, data
management,
interactive voice
response, outage management,
and field services. Together, these
three highly compatible
organizations will expand their
integrations into multiple new
product lines, bringing integration to
a new level to offer superior products
across the board. SmartWorks is
focused on developing agnostic
solutions that tie together multiple
utility systems to streamline utility
processes and convert volumes of
data into powerful insights.
The company is aiming to maintain
its prime focus on the cooperative
and municipal utility space.
SmartWorks focuses on data in both
energy and water conservation
management, as the benefits in this
area have the potential to change the
way people everywhere use the
world’s finite resources of energy and
water.
Brad Atchison
Senior Executive
Vice President
““ ““
SmartWorks provides
data management and
analytics solutions that
make the complex simple.
June 2018 37

E-Mobility:
Pioneering Transportation with
Smart Grid
The electric automobile is associated with the
integration of transportation, which is resulted
according to the customer needs. Customer
demands are initiated towards renewable energies in terms
of a zero-emission and sustainable mobility. The "Smart
Grid" could be a hypothetic methodology with electrically
collected from vehicles that run on renewable resources.
However, E-mobility consequently specializing in customer
demands and build an effective source of energy through
mobility.
Electro mobility or E-mobility suggests clean and
environment-friendly transport through electric vehicles. It
conjointly delivers climate-friendly technology with
massive growth potential. In the automotive industry,
electricity suppliers and government influencers are also
pushing e-mobility within the field of standardization. For
sequencing to the perfection, utilities and network operators
are heavily investing under development of ‘intelligent’
electricity distribution systems.
Smart Grid Communication for economical E-Mobility
In smart grid, smart energy network depends upon
comprehensive communication with integrated charging
stations. The communication with the smart grid is
incessantly measured and controlled through an IP-based
connection. It additionally permits load compensation with
the assistance of interconnecting charging stations.
Additionally, vehicle-to-grid communication makes it
potential to integrate special charge models and supply new
services. Moreover, in future the vehicles connected to the
smart grid unit expected to perform batteries for storing
extra energy as needed.
Rendering ahead with Smart Grid
The move towards a low-carbon society would require
progress in renewable energy production and in e-mobility.
The success of e-mobility is connected to smart grid
development that helps intelligent charging infrastructure
for big scale acceptance of electric vehicles. The
dependency works both ways in which comparable to
massive scale acceptance of e-mobility helps massive scale
infrastructure investments to be profitable.
Functionalities of E-Mobility
There are two different kinds of plug-in electric vehicles,
such as plug-in hybrid vehicle and pure electric vehicle.
Were plug-in hybrid vehicles are equipped with a
combustion engine and pure electric vehicle encompass
pure electric connectivity. The proper electricity-production
drastically reduces CO2 emissions compared to traditional
combustion engine cars. From the perspective of the
electrical grid, people’s habits and daily schedules can
probably cause peak demand at certain times of day, which
may cause electricity network congestion or voltages below
normal.
Revolutionary Trends of Electrical Grid
In an electrical grid, the energy system becomes
progressively relied on renewable energy sources. The
wants to the electrical grid are ever-changing with latest
trends. The alternative energy is generally non-controllable,
suburbanized and unsteady. E-mobility brings purposeful
technology which reinforces the transportation medium and
efficient method.
June 201838
E-Mobility

Flexible property of E-Mobility
E-mobility may be a versatile electrical transportation
medium immensely capturing client demands. The
flexibility of e-mobility helps to reduce costs of network
investments and electricity bills with grid operators. The
network has the flexibility to deal with worst case situation.
It additionally reduces energy and absorbs excessive energy
generation, and additionally things and voltage issues.
Nissan Integrates E-Mobility with Smart Grid
The well-known automobile brand, Nissan is introducing its
own electronic vehicle or e-mobility vehicle with smart grid
technology. Nissan additionally proposes to introduce
technology and business ties between electric driving and
smart grid. Moreover, Nissan is on the point of introducing
energy storage for a vehicle for domestic usage supported
second-life batteries. Nissan’s is aiming to provide
concerning one hundred electric vehicle charging stations
for each non-public and business purpose. The automotive
users are ready to offer the battery capacity to vehicles and
to create energy for grid. Hence, Nissan drives its
e-mobility vehicles effectively with unified consumer
experience.
Confronting Future with E-Mobility
The future of electric vehicles is remodeling within the field
of energy and quality happening in the fields of energy and
quality. E-mobility is influenced by market factors and
forthcoming trends that are nearly unbeatable. The
conjunction of e-mobility and smart grid is a chance for
many automobile industries. Through automobile,
businesses have many possibilities to head in the market.
Henceforth, e-mobility delivers significant solutions to
automobile industry comprises with a smart grid. It’s a
revolutionary step towards automobile segmentation
comprises with electric transport mobility solutions.
June 2018 39

C
limate change is one of the
biggest challenges we face as
a planet today, and fossil-
fueled power plants are a major source
of that problem.
Electricity supply and demand must
be balanced at all times to prevent
issues on the electricity grid. Demand
fluctuates due to day-to-day
consumption patterns. The increase in
renewable energy sources such as
wind and solar power are contributing
to fluctuations in supply, as the
production of energy depends on
variable natural factors that are hard to
control.
Currently, discrepancies between
supply and demand are restored by
power plants in an inefficient and
polluting manner by quickly
increasing generation to match the
demand.
Solutions such as Sympower speed up
the transition to a clean and efficient
energy system. It minimizes the need
for heavily-polluting “peaking” plants
and facilitates the integration of
renewables onto the electricity grid,
reducing the carbon footprint of the
energy system as a whole. Sympower
enables smarter energy use for a low-
carbon future.
Being Part of the Solution
Sympower enables electricity end-
users to make a significant
contribution towards building a clean
energy system by optimizing their
energy consumption. The Sympower
system operates as a Virtual Power
Plant, matching demand to the supply
without the need for increased
generation of power. Its smart
software connects appliances such as
electric heating and cooling systems to
an online platform that balances the
supply and demand of electricity in
real-time. Online systems monitor
physical processes on site and adjust
consumption and production of the
connected appliances while
minimizing the disturbance caused to
the processes, making the end-user’s
industrial, commercial and residential
systems a part of the solution.
Transmission System Operators and
Distribution System Operators
purchase balancing services and
congestion management solutions
from Sympower. These grid operators
have highly technical demands and
qualification requirements that
Sympower is able to fulfill across
multiple markets and geographies.
Sympower shares revenues generated
from the balancing services with the
appliance owners, paying them for the
capacity they have contributed to the
platform and for their role in creating
a cleaner and more sustainable energy
system.
Sympower:
Creating Grid Sustainability
through Demand Management
June 201842

Connecting Energy System with IoT
Sympower’s Internet of Energy
Things solution regulates the behavior
of devices that consume electricity in
real-time from a cloud, synchronizing
the energy consumption with the
supply and demand on the grid in real-
time. Additionally, Sympower enables
customers to become active traders on
electricity markets and optimizes
consumption against electricity prices
in new ways providing end-users with
additional sources of revenue and
lower electricity bills.
Every day, the Sympower platform
gets smarter by optimizing forecasting
algorithms, reviewing energy
consumption trends and optimizing
how it trades resources.
Initial Setbacks and a Better Future
Sympower’s main challenges along
the path to growth are the restrictions
that come from regulatory barriers.
The lack of current market structures
that are open to demand response
aggregation and the time it takes
institutions to adapt to advancements
in aggregator functions, make it
difficult for Sympower to enter into
new countries rapidly.
Much needed change is on the horizon
however, as European legislation is
mandating that countries open their
electricity markets to sustainable
solutions such as demand response
aggregation and frequency reserves by
2020. Sympower is part of the
Horizon 2020 R&D initiative
Interflex, that explores pathways to
adapt and modernize the European
electricity distribution system, giving
Sympower a head start as part of the
change makers in the industry.
With such transformational regulatory
changes buoying the industry, and
many other R&D projects Sympower
is involved in, the company will
continue to grow its portfolio of
services and already has plans to
expand into new markets in Europe,
North America, and the Middle East.
Simon Bushell
CEO & Founder
““ ““
You can now contribute to balancing
the electricity grid sustainably through
our automated software system. Turn
electricity consuming appliances into
value generating energy assets and
support the transition to a cleaner and
more sustainable energy system.
The Passionate Leader
Simon Bushell is CEO and
Founder of Amsterdam-based
Demand Response Aggregator,
Sympower. He is passionate about
finding innovative solutions to help
tackle climate change. Simon is a
Forbes 30 under 30 Social
Entrepreneur and has been invited to
speak at events all over the world to
share his vision on the future of the
energy system.
June 2018 43

ZOME Energy Networks,
Inc.was selected as a Top 10,
Best in Class vendor because
of its advanced Distributed Energy
Resource Optimization software and
the team behind their solution. The
company oﬀers a wide-scale, device-
independent, platform solution that
includes cloud software, algorithms,
and API’s enabling control,
simulations, and analytics to improve
electric utility and building-wide
energy management programs.
ZOME’s platform is built on AWS,
designed as a “micro service”
architecture, and supports IoT and
other energy-consuming devices.
ZOME, and its intellectual property of
ColorPower Algorithms, automates
the management and optimization
(including helping third-party
DERMS — Distributed Energy
Resources Management System–
players). The modular architecture is
provided as a Platform-as-a-Service
(PaaS) basis, to be white-labeled for
utilities, aggregators, or other
partners.
Meanwhile, ZOME’s HVAC
Analytics allows for analytics-based
optimization of currently running DR
programs based on connected
thermostats. This predictive
capability—what is the energy load
behind that thermostat?—allows
utilities or their DERMS vendors to
notably improve the accuracy of these
HVAC demand side management
programs, and can make this
aggregate energy load dispatchable
and more viable for core utility
operations.
The company’s underlying
ColorPower algorithms incorporate
the management of the full suite of
(DERs), including Energy Eﬃciency
(EE), Demand Response (DR),
Distributed Generation (DG),
Distributed Storage (DS) and Vehicle
to Grid (V2G). The company provides
a holistic approach to ‘supply-demand
optimization,’ while meeting the
needs of energy providers, end-
consumers of energy services, and
regulators.
It’s not just the products, but also
the team at ZOME that makes this
company noteworthy:
Dr. Alex Papalexopoulos is the CEO
and Chairman of ZOME Energy
Networks. Dr. Papalexopoulos is also
the Founder of ECCO, one of the top
energy market designers in the world.
ZOME is his product company,
ECCO his consulting company. He is
also an IEEE Fellow, and has co-
developed much of the ISO market
system in the USA, and has designed
energy markets on four continents.
It’s not an exaggeration to say he is a
living legend in the energy sector.
Brad Kayton is the Co-founder and
COO. Mr. Kayton co-founded what
was at the time the largest broadband
equipment company for North
America (2Wire), and a leading home
and energy automation vendor
(4Home) which was acquired by
Motorola and then Google. Mr.
Kayton has 10 patents to his name, all
in the areas of networking and energy
management and he is on the board of
a few leading IoT related companies.
Igor Chernyy is the CTO, with a
background of having worked at both
Amazon.com and Microsoft
developing cloud products, he is in
charge of ZOME’s cloud architecture
and development. Eric Smith is the
SVP of Sales & BusDev, and he has
over 30 years working in the energy
sector, most recently as Managing
Director of Navigant Consulting.
Delivering Energy Cloud Services
ZOME Energy Networks provides
three primary services for energy
optimization: ColorPower for
TM
MDUs , ColorPower for
TM
Neighborhoods , and ZOME
TM
Analytics .
ColorPower for MDUs allows
building owners to enjoy energy
savings and even revenue generation
from their buildings in certain areas
by coordinating the energy usage with
the rest of the Energy Grid, helping
the Grid in times of need and getting
paid for it. Consumers living in the
apartment units can share in the
savings or revenue generation and
take pride in being “green,” all the
ZOME Energy
Networks:
A Smarter Way to Optimize
June 201844

while maintaining control by being
able to opt out at any time.
ColorPower for Neighborhoods
provides energy management and
optimization for electric utilities and
its customers living in primarily
single-family home neighborhoods.
ColorPower for Neighborhoods
enables electric utilities to optimize
Demand Response (DR) and other
demand side management (DSM)
programs in operation as well as new
rollouts, including the wider
objectives of Distributed Energy
Resource applications. Consumers are
motivated to enroll in ColorPower-
enabled programs to save money on
energy use, to earn credits to their
monthly energy bill, earn Tokens, or
receive checks in the mail for their
flexible energy contribution.
ZOME Analytics is a set of cloud-
based services that provides a variety
of analytics, machine learning, and
predictive modules for energy use and
management. Companies can tap into
ZOME Analytics to better estimate
energy loads. APIs allow either
DERMS vendors or utilities directly
to improve the accuracy in their
currently running or planned
Distributed Energy Resource
program.
Enhancing Energy Distribution
with Notable Benefits:
ZOME helps utilities achieve
sustainable energy programs, enables
apartment owners to “bid” their
buildings for DR payments, partners
with device vendors, and provides
end-consumers an easy way to engage
and stay in Demand Side
Management (DSM) programs.
Electric Utility benefit: The more
responsive the energy grid can be, the
better the economics, resource
loading, and environmental impact. It
is important to understand the value
proposition underlying ColorPower. It
algorithmically balances energy needs
(demand) with energy distribution
(supply) to the point of allowing
demand needs and preferences to
openly trigger energy supply, which
in turn would optimize the market
price at the LMP, and in the process
optimizing the cost and sustainability
of energy. It also provides benefits to
apartment building owners with
demand charge savings, Demand
Response (DR) payments, energy
usage, time of day automated savings,
and overall load balancing of the
building(s).
ZOME’s ColorPower DER
optimization platform is uniquely
designed in that
one part of it is for
energy management
simulations, while another part
is the control loop, both are
integrated together, and the Precision
Program Iterative Rollout
methodology it facilitates is patent
protected. Algorithms are the key
differentiator for ZOME, and their
cloud-API architecture enables broad
support for equipment monitoring and
control. ZOME’s methodology
enables much more precision, and as
such can be used for advanced energy
ancillary services.
Eye On Expansion
The platform is being extended to tie-
in EVs, roof-top solar, battery storage,
and other DERs. The goal at the
highest level is to optimize DERs
from the demand-side and match as
closely as possible to the up and down
output of most renewable energy
sources. ZOME envisions providing
the services beyond North America,
with Europe and Canada being the
first geographic expansion regions for
the company.
Dr. Alex Papalexopoulos
CEO & Chairman
““ ““
We provide the best Supply-
Demand Optimization of
Distributed Energy
Resources by enlisting IoT
devices.
June 2018 45

BEYOND
AUTOMATION:
AI powered Autonomous
Factories of the Future
Rise of the industrial robots in 1980s led to a
major evolution of Henry Ford’s assembly line
concept. Routine tasks that were being handled
by factory workers started to be performed by robots with
greater accuracy and efficiency. With the spread of
device-to-device communication and IoT protocols,
robots started taking a serious amount of responsibility
from factory workers. This movement was initially led by
th
German high tech firms that branded this shift as the 4
industrial revolution. On the opposite side, there was
China, taking advantage of their access to low cost
human labour as an alternative to automation. Very
recently, a few years ago, China flipped their strategy 180
degrees, becoming the biggest advocate of automation by
starting to invest aggressively on buying robots and
developing their own robotics know-how led by
government initiatives. So the technology won. There is
no question about the need for automation anymore and
major manufacturing companies, including the ones in
China, Germany and rest of the world are racing to
automate their industrial processes to increase
productivity.
Everything that can be automated will be
automated, according to Zuboff’s law.
However, some things are more difficult
to be automated than other things.
Those are non-repetitive tasks which
require higher level of cognition and
ability to adapt into unknown
conditions. These tasks can be
defined as the last mile in factory
automation. Tesla, the electric car
manufacturer, was recently
criticized by analysts for
automating their assembly line
more than necessary. The
reason of the criticism was the
fact that the cost of
automation exceeded the cost
of a human led assembly
Daghan Cam
Co-founder & CEO
Ai Build
June 201846
Expert’s Foresight

line. This may be a valid argument for
today but the solution should be found
in increasing the bar for commercially
viable automation and not by going
back to lower levels of automation.
So if we are moving towards full
automation and lights-out
manufacturing, how can the last mile
in factories be automated without
overspending and over engineering?
Autonomy seems to be the answer,
therefore Artificial Intelligence…
There is a slight but important
difference between Automation and
Autonomy. Autonomy is the state of
being able to make independent
decisions in situations that were not
experienced before. By definition,
autonomous systems are always
automated, but the other way around is
not always the case. A system may be
fully automated but not autonomous.
“Blind Automation” is the term we use
for this category.
Systems that are blindly automated are
based on hard coded rules, as in expert
systems, and they tend to be very
difficult to be reconfigured if the
conditions or requirements change over
time. Autonomous systems, in contrast,
generalize the rules for decision
making in different scenarios by
allowing a higher level of abstraction
in their programming.
For example, in the blind automation
scenario, a robot may be programmed
to go to coordinates x, y, z in order to
pick up an object. This will work
without problems as long as the object
is found precisely at coordinates x, y, z.
However, if for any reason the object is
positioned at a slightly different
location, the robot will still go to x, y,
z, fail to pick the object up and
continue executing the rest of its
commands without noticing this
problem. Eventually every step
subsequent to this failure will also fail.
A better strategy for performing the
same task, is using a robot with vision
sensors, and programming it to go to
the object’s position (as a variable) to
pick it up. Regardless of where the
object is positioned, robot will localize
it using its sensors and successfully
pick it up. This difference between the
two programming paradigms; “go to x,
y, z” and “go to an object’s position”
makes a big difference in making the
system less prone to making mistakes
in unexpected conditions which is
crucial for last mile factory
automation.
Robots making hundreds of decisions
every second and receiving hundreds
of measurements from the environment
and from other devices also require
massive computation and storage
capabilities. Despite the popularity of
cloud computing in most applications
today, a decentralized compute power
is necessary for most robotic
applications and for IoT devices in
general. The throughput between the
edge and the cloud through internet
connectivity is simply not enough to
process all data generated by sensors
and make sensible decisions in real-
time. So edge computing, or fog
computing - dedicated servers on
premise as a layer between individual
devices and the cloud - will likely be
the norm in autonomous factories of
the future unless we experience a
breakthrough in science that leads to
infinitely fast and reliable internet
connectivity. However unlike compute
power, storage of important data, that
is filtered on the edge, should be
centralized in order to achieve the best
decision making models at every
location.
As a summary, a few conclusions and
predictions about the future are:
Ÿ We are moving towards an
autonomous black-box factory
model where the factory robots are
operated by themselves without
human intervention.
Ÿ These factories will be powered by
the data that is generated by
themselves and their productivity
will increase over time exceeding
human performance in every
process involved in manufacturing.
Ÿ Factories will compute on-premise /
on-edge and they will push
important data to cloud for
benefiting from a shared pool of
data with other factories.
www.ai-build.com
In this scenario where robots make
autonomous decisions by using real-
time sensor data, a feedback loop is
established between physical and
digital environments. The constant
flow of information from physical to
digital and vice versa create immense
amounts of structured data which is the
fuel for AI powered autonomous
factories of the future. Such action-
measurement-action strategies allow
the systems to self-improve over time,
creating a data network effect in
manufacturing. The more one process
is executed, the more efficient it will
get. This allows super-human
performance in almost every domain
given enough data.
Daghan Cam is the Co-founder
and CEO of Ai Build, a London
based startup developing
Artificial Intelligence and
Robotics technologies for the
construction industry. He is also
a visiting lecturer at University
College London doing research
on robotic fabrication, large scale
3d printing and parallel
algorithms with GPU computing.
His work focuses on developing
intelligence for automating
complex tasks in design and
manufacturing by using
computer vision and machine
learning techniques.
About the Author
June 2018 47

The 10 best in-class smart grid tech solution providers 2018

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