ETSI workshop addresses the challenge of Smart Grid standardization

ETSI Headquarters, Sophia Antipolis, France – 13 April 2011

ETSI's first Smart Grid workshop, held at Sophia Antipolis on the 5th and 6th of April 2011, attracted over 250 participants from Europe, China, Japan, Korea and North America. Representatives of the power and ICT industries came together to address the challenges they face in standardizing Smart Grid technology.

Understanding the challenge of Smart Grid standardization was the key theme at ETSI's first Smart Grid standardization workshop. The Smart Grid is a prime example of where Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can be applied to other industry sectors, enabling new solutions and leading to more efficient delivery of services. 
Developing and deploying the Smart Grid requires close collaboration between the power industry and the ICT industry, using the best experience from both. Smart Grid will contain a mix of legacy and new technologies integrated into a common architecture, enabling new services and applications such as integration of renewable energy sources, widespread adoption of electric vehicles and better energy consumption management. In fact many of the challenges Smart Grid operators will face in deploying, managing and evolving Smart Grids will be familiar to ETSI's members.

The European Commission has recognized the importance of Smart Grid development to Europe's economic future, establishing a Smart Grids Task Force and issuing a mandate to the three European Standards Organizations (ETSI, CEN and CENELEC) to develop standards for Smart Grid. The three standards bodies are responding by working in partnership to co-ordinate their activities and take account of all industry needs.

Partnership at a global level will also be required in order to develop Smart Grid technologies. This was clearly demonstrated by the strong international presence at this workshop, with representation from standards bodies, research institutes and industry from China, Japan, Korea and North America.

The two-day workshop provided an update on the status of Smart Grid standardization in the industry standards bodies, including ETSI. It considered proposals for architectures, communication technologies, data and information management, privacy and security, integration of the Smart Grid into homes, and collected feedback from a number of pilot projects.

– END –

Notes for Editors

About ETSI
ETSI produces globally-applicable standards for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), including fixed, mobile, radio, transport, broadcast and internet technologies and is officially recognized by the European Union as a European Standards Organization. ETSI is an independent, not-for-profit association whose 700+ member companies and organizations, drawn from 62 countries across 5 continents worldwide, determine its work programme and participate directly in its work. For more information: www.etsi.org.

The ETSI logo is a trademark of ETSI registered for the benefit of its Members.

About the ETSI Smart Grid Workshop
The ETSI Workshop 'Standards: An Architecture for the Smart Grid' was held at the Agora conference centre, Sophia Antipolis, France, on the 5th and 6th of April 2011. The workshop was open and free of charge.