Nowe Technologie Archive

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Gary Miles, CEO of Gentrack, tells delegates at Future of Utilities that the world needs to learn lessons from Australia’s “energy as a service” model

Utilities can’t afford to wait to transform, the benefits significantly outweigh the risks

IT transformation will be critical to deliver the energy transition. Gary Miles, CEO of Gentrack, tells delegates at Future of Utilities that the world needs to learn lessons from Australia’s “energy as a service” model.

Transitioning to a low carbon world involves huge upstream and midstream investment in solar, wind turbines and grid infrastructure to cleanly and reliably deliver electrons to people and businesses. But, as Gary Miles, CEO of Gentrack, made clear in his keynote presentation at the recent Future of Utilities Energy Transition conference, the IT systems which underpin the workings of the modern retailers and gen-tailers must transform to adapt to the decentralisation and decarbonisation challenges ahead.

Get this right and there’s huge upside, both for the utility provider and the customer. “Amazing customer experience, digital first engagement, lower debt, more than 99.5% accurate billing and reduced cost to serve, with automation helping to deliver 30-40% lower cost-to-serve,” said Miles

Miles is a newcomer to the energy industry, having spent most of his career in the telecoms industry. “Telecoms had the largest impact on GDP in the world over the last 30 years, delivering information and education to billions of people,” said Miles. “It’s been an amazing vehicle of progress for the world.”

“The energy industry today is more dynamic than the telecoms space. The pace of change is accelerating and the existential need to modernize is more profound.”

By comparison, few people would consider utility providers to be hubs of innovation. Yet this would, said Miles, be a misconception. “From time-of-use tariffing to virtual power plants there is an innovation highway ahead of energy suppliers and the industry today is more dynamic than the telecoms space was,” he said. “The pace of change is accelerating, and the complexity is enormous, but so are the opportunities.”

To illustrate his point, Miles highlighted the success stories from Australia, which, having been hard hit by blackouts, is now powering ahead with renewable and decentralised energy. The Australian Energy Market Operator and Energy Networks predict that generation from decentralised sources will be up to around 45% by 2040 – indeed, the country is already the number one in the world for solar PV per capita. This isn’t just about being blessed with good weather – after all, the country is also rich in oil, gas and coal – but about policy and investment.

Energy decentralisation graph

Government policy has accelerated the uptake of solar and battery systems, which in turn is leading to innovations in customer propositions.

Energy as a service

“One of the more recent innovations we’re seeing, powered by technology, is leveraging flexible behind-the-meter load from Solar and EVs,” Miles says, highlighting the work of Gentrack client Energy Australia. They offer householders installations of solar PV and battery systems with zero up-front cost, and at the end of seven years they own the system. The solar option is highly popular, and the battery roll out is also growing fast; around 140,000 homes already have batteries, with the number installed expected to rise to 800,000 by 2025.

Most importantly, for the consumer this is a super simple and very affordable proposition.”

“Consumers pay a flat energy rate for seven years on an ‘energy as a service’ model,” Miles explained. “Energy Australia leverages their ability to aggregate this flexible load and bid it into the grid as a virtual power plant, so they can take advantage of wholesale revenue streams. Most importantly, for the consumer this is a super simple and very affordable proposition.”

“Your systems need to deliver a simple customer experience in the face of extreme complexity”

This is key, and it’s why the IT side is just as important as the panels and batteries. To work, the hugely complex, multi-faceted and vastly expensive energy transition must be presented to the end-user as simple, reliable and good value for money. “Your systems need to deliver a simple customer experience in the face of extreme complexity,” said Miles.

While telcos responded to the cyclical waves of innovation that would routinely hit every eight years or so by renewing and reinventing their IT infrastructure, Miles believes that the systems powering much of the energy industry are stagnant and act as a brake, rather than an accelerant, on progress.

“The IT systems of many retailers are old and broken,” he told delegates. “The systems are 20-30 years old and they’re leaking and creaking. The shift to upgrade and transform has happened in leading markets with huge success as retailers move off of these antiquated systems. The rest of the world is due to follow as it sees that such transformations are both achievable and able to deliver significant results.”

Existing legacy systems are, quite simply, not fit for purpose if the energy transition is to be achievable to any meaningful timescale.

“Today, leading utilities are telling us that their legacy systems are like cement in their businesses,” he said. “Those platforms are literally weighing their organisations down and stopping them from moving forwards.”

“Leading utilities are telling us that their legacy systems are like cement in their business.”

Investing for a smarter, greener future

The good news is that this overdue investment is now being made. Miles cited statistics from a leading industry analyst that suggest that all of the utilities companies will upgrade their systems in this decade and the first 20% will choose a replacement system by 2026.

And this comes with a kicker in the tail. “If you don’t do it, you will fall further and further behind,” he said, stressing this wasn’t just an energy company issue; water companies need to make this investment too.

These investments in IT are part of the enabling technologies for the energy transition. Because clean energy isn’t just about turbines and solar; as demonstrated by Energy Australia, it’s about building a grid that can deal with intermittency and distributed generation, flexing and adapting and hedging to changing inputs and outputs, offering dynamic pricing and giving more power to consumers – who are becoming generators in their own right.

Get this right and there’s huge upside, both for the utility provider and the customer. “Amazing customer experience, digital first engagement, lower debt, more than 99.5% accurate billing and reduced cost to serve, with automation helping to deliver 30-40% lower cost-to-serve,” said Miles.

What’s more, this kind of digital transformation can be done relatively quickly, using low-code, no-code technologies. “It means you can be launching innovative propositions and new services in days rather than months,” he said.

The energy transition is going to require constant innovation and systems will need to be able to flex, whether it’s in response to new technologies, customer behaviours or market conditions. Future optionality can come from being part of an open ecosystem, enabling companies to partner with specialists and leverage existing capabilities. This is a new way of thinking and working for many in the utilities sector but it’s going to be essential to deliver perhaps one of the biggest challenges facing humanity: the transition to a low/no carbon future.

“The world needs to look at places like Victoria in Australia, and make that leap,” stressed Miles. “The time to do this was yesterday.”

As delegates at the conference would no doubt agree, the next best time is now.

More: MarketForceLive

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Sevenet Story Scene SOPOT 18 maja 2023

  

To autorskie wydarzenie SEVENET, podczas którego opowiadamy nasze historie, ale i historie z naszym udziałem (czyli wdrożenia, opowieści technologiczne, etc). Każda prelekcja stanowi niejako kolejną, odrębną scene, która finalnie łączy się w jedną, wspólną całość. Łącznikiem tych historii jest Sevenet, jako integrator i partner w biznesie.

Sevenet S. A. jest firmą z branży IT, zajmującą się od 1997 roku dostawą zaawansowanych rozwiązań teleinformatycznych dla przedsiębiorstw
i instytucji w Polsce. Od czerwca 2011 roku akcje Spółki notowane są w Alternatywnym Systemie Obrotu rynku NewConnect.

SEVENET STORY SCENE PRELEGENCI

Agenda

REJESTRACJA UCZESTNIKÓW 10:00 – 11:00

Sesja Plenarna: Evidence-based growth™ Jak szlifować kompetencje, rozwijać talenty i korzystać z narzędzi, które weryfikuje nauka. 11:00 – 11:30 prelegent: Piotr Bucki
Sesja 1: A czemu by nie ćwierkać? Jeden system – wiele kanałów. Webex Connect – rewolucja w komunikacji. 11:30 – 12:00
Prelegent: Arkadiusz Rybacki / Sevenet S.A. Prelegent: Adrian Królikowski / Sevenet S.A.
Sesja 2: Gastroskopia po 40-ce, czyli analityka w data center w dobie przepustowości 40G i więcej. 12:00 – 12:20
Prelegent: Krzysztof Załęski / Sevenet S.A.
PRZERWA KAWOWA 12:20 – 12:40
Sesja 3: Dajmy nura i zajrzyjmy głębiej – wzbogacenie widoczności SD-WAN przy wykorzystaniu Cisco ThousandEyes. 12:40 – 13:00
Prelegent: Rafał Piwko / Sevenet S.A.
Sesja 4: Parasol na pochmurną pogodę. Cisco SASE (Umbrella & DUO) – rozwiązania bezpieczeństwa serwowane natywnie z chmury. 13:00 – 13:20 Prelegent: Bartosz Kuca / Sevenet S.A.
Sesja 5: Cyberbezpieczeństwo od A do Z, czyli od DNS poprzez mikrosegmentacje, a skończywszy na sieciach przemysłowych OT. Case study. 13:20 – 13:40 Prelegent: Aleksander Jagosz / Sevenet S.A. Prelegent: Marcin Białkowski / Sevenet S.A. Prelegent: Marcin Kornafel / Sevenet S.A.
LUNCH 13:40 – 15:00
NETWORKING 15:00 – 19:00
KOLACJA 19:00 – 20:00
ATRAKCJA WIECZORU 21:30 – 22:30

 

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Sidsel Norvik, Director, Nor-Shipping: Nor-Shipping it is a world leading arena of the maritime innovations and business

Marek Grzybowski (5) questions to Sidsel Norvik, Director, Nor-Shipping, An exclusive interview to Baltic Journalist Maritime Club  of the Baltic Sea & Space Cluster  (BSSC)

The aftermaths of COVID and the attack on Ukraine has created huge waves of uncertainty and instability all over the world and anyone operating internationally is affected by geopolitical upheavals and the years ahead will focus on zero emissions and climate neutrality. The maritime business is indeed very complex, dynamic and fast evolving, which in turn makes an arena like Nor-Shipping very important. Nor-Shipping is a world leading arena, where cutting edge Norwegian and international companies showcase the innovations that deliver competitive advantage for their customers. Nor-Shipping’s partnership with WISTA is a key contributor in our effort to raise awareness of the challenges and the many great opportunities for women in shipping. Ocean Campus is an important part of the Nor-Shipping. It  is a dedicated island of exhibition booths showcasing some of the world’s leading maritime universities and colleges. Leading Ocean Campus Partner is the World Maritime University (WMU).

Marek Grzybowski: Maritime business today is shipping, ports and logistics, oil and gas production, offshore wind farms, fish and seafood production, it is sea tourism and exploration, it is science and education, it is a large area of ​​creating innovation, it is a specific community of people, business and people who love the oceans, they are partners in business, science and environmental protection. Can you briefly characterize the Nor-Shipping event?

Sidsel Norvik, Director, Nor-Shipping: Nor-Shipping is a world leading arena, where cutting edge Norwegian and international companies showcase the innovations that deliver competitive advantage for their customers. It is the place where the maritime, tech, finance and wider business segments cross paths to learn from one another, forge partnerships, and access new economic value creation.

The 22,000 m2 exhibition space is the beating heart of the week’s activity. This is where delegates and visitors can experience the products, services and companies that will help drive a new age of ocean industry development. Spiced with a lot of topical conferences and a dynamic after work festival, Nor-Shipping provide an invaluable combination of insight, business opportunities and social networking.

Marek Grzybowski: The maritime business is extremely complex, currently developing in close connection with IT, AI, space technologies, VR and IoT. What is the concept of presenting the business sector, science and companies just entering the maritime business in exhibition halls?

Sidsel Norvik, Director, Nor-Shipping: The maritime business is indeed very complex, dynamic and fast evolving, which in turn makes an arena like Nor-Shipping very important. Just by walking the isles, you get to experience the latest innovation and technology from a wide range of maritime segments and countries – all in one place.

You can also attend the Blue Talks, Technical seminars and the Offshore Aquaculture conference for free and you can upgrade your ticket with a small fee to join the 2nd Maritime Hydrogen Conference, the 1st Offshore Wind Conference, the 4th Int. Ship Autonomy and Sustainability Summit and a lot more. The program is vast and easily available to plan your participation.

Marek Grzybowski: Nor-Shipping is an opportunity to present the latest achievements in science and technology. However, the context in which the maritime economy functions cannot be avoided. Russia’s attack on Ukraine clearly affected the conditions for the functioning of the maritime economy. Nor-Shipping has confirmed that Joseph E. Stiglitz, the renowned Nobel laureate in Economics and former Chief Economist at the World Bank, will be a keynote speaker at this year’s Ocean Leadership Conference, taking place in Lillestrøm, Norway, 6 June. The war on land caused significant changes in the operation of maritime business. Do you expect this topic to come up during the 2023 Nor-Shipping Ocean Leadership Conference?

Sidsel Norvik, Director, Nor-Shipping: The aftermaths of COVID and the attack on Ukraine has created huge waves of uncertainty and instability all over the world and anyone operating internationally is affected by geopolitical upheavals and the years ahead will focus on zero emissions and climate neutrality. All in all a challenging landscape to navigate in. This year’s Ocean Leadership Conference will bring together high-profile international leaders, from the ocean industries and beyond, to ask how we can move forward towards collective goals, and individual business ambitions.

Together we will assess if partnerships between maritime players, energy suppliers, financial institutions, authorities and other central stakeholders holds the key to unlocking the energy transition and decarbonisation of shipping. The future will not be defined by individual companies, or isolated breakthroughs, but rather by how we move together for a profitable tomorrow.

Marek Grzybowski: The role of women in the maritime business is growing. WISTA Norway is a partner of Nor-Shipping. WISTA Norway launched ‘40 by 30’ Pledge to allow the maritime company to show that the company actively commit to promoting diversity in the maritime industry. Do you anticipate special businesswoman activity during meetings in 2023?

Sidsel Norvik, Director, Nor-Shipping: To improve conditions for women in shipping and increase number of women across the maritime industry is important. Nor-Shipping’s partnership with WISTA is a key contributor in our effort to raise awareness of the challenges and the many great opportunities for women in shipping.

Nor-Shipping has of course also signed the “40 by 30” pledge and urge others to follow. WISTA Norway is 35 years this year and will celebrate with a Leadership Award ceremony. They will also present “10 women to watch” together with YoungShip and execute their “Waves of change” program, which will be a series of topical session at the Blue Talk stage in Hall E.

Marek Grzybowski: Nor-Shipping launches Ocean Campus in partnership with World Maritime University. This is a new initiative. What is the mission of this event? What other events important for the maritime business will accompany Nor-Shipping 2023?

Sidsel Norvik, Director, Nor-Shipping: Ocean Campus is a dedicated island of exhibition booths showcasing some of the world’s leading maritime universities and colleges. Leading Ocean Campus Partner is the World Maritime University (WMU) and other Campus members include the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), BI Norwegian Business School, UiT The University of the Arctic (UArctic), MLA College, Oslo MET, Alba Graduate Business School and SINTEF Ocean.

These universities and colleges represent a solid geographical spread and a wide range of maritime industry competency. Together they will form an Ocean Campus Committee of industry experts to tailor an exciting program for the main Ocean Campus day on Friday 9 June. The mission is to demonstrate how academia is adjusting to the maritime transition and what maritime career opportunities are in store for the next generation. We will stream this event to allow students and next generation shipping employees to get access from wherever they might be.

Marek Grzybowski: Thank you for your answers

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GÓRY ZARZĄDZANIA – Konferencja hybrydowa – 29 maja 2023

Ostatnie lata to pasmo zawirowań, których doświadczamy. Wybuchła pandemia, Rosja zaatakowała Ukrainę, co wywołało kryzys humanitarny i masową falę uchodźców. Na dodatek coraz silniej odczuwamy zmiany klimatu w postaci wydłużających się okresów suszy i opadów, czy różnego rodzaju huraganów, trzęsień ziemi i innych zjawisk meteorologicznych. Wyzwaniem stało się odejście od paliw kopalnych i znalezienie alternatywnych źródeł energii.

Żeby tego rodzaju wyzwaniom sprostać wymaga się od nas elastyczności, innowacyjnego podejścia do zarządzania, przewartościowania celów. Zdajemy sobie sprawę jak ważna jest synergia różnorodnych środowisk: samorządowców, naukowców, przedstawicieli sektora prywatnego, ngo’sów, które w naturalny sposób tworzą fundament dla innowacji i rozwoju, także w obszarach związanych z planowaniem energetycznym. Dlatego właśnie chciałbym zwrócić Państwa uwagę na przedsięwzięcie pt. „Góry Zarządzania”, które odbędzie się 29 maja 2023 r. w Szczawnie Zdrój niedaleko Wrocławia. Konferencja w całości będzie poświęcona zarządzaniu w czasie kryzysu.

GÓRY ZARZĄDZANIA PROGRAM REJESTRACJA

Instytut Maxa Webera zaprasza na pierwszą edycję konferencji i warsztatów GÓRY ZARZĄDZANIA, które odbędą się w dniu 29 maja 2023 roku w Teatrze Zdrojowym w Szczawnie Zdroju. Góry Zarządzania to pierwsza edycja konferencji i warsztatów dedykowanych samorządom, nauce oraz biznesowi. Synergia wielu środowisk, które w naturalny sposób tworzą fundament dla innowacji i rozwoju, a także: tworzenie partnerstw, ciągły proces doskonalenia obszarów zarządzania organizacją, aktualizacja przyjętych strategii, celów w odniesieniu do zmian w otoczeniu, kryzysów i czasów niepewności, a także zdobywanie praktycznych, operacyjnych umiejętności w zakresie szeroko rozumianych funkcji zarządzania: planowania, organizowania, motywowania i kontrolowania podczas prowadzonych warsztatów, to cele, które przyświecają idei GÓR ZARZĄDZANIA.

GORY ZARZADZANIA program 29-05-2023

Przedsięwzięcie organizowane w dniu 29 maja 2023 roku poświęcone będzie: ZARZĄDZANIU W CZASACH KRYZYSU, rozpocznie się o godzinie 10.00 i potrwa do godziny 15.00 w Teatrze Zdrojowym w Szczawnie Zdroju. Przedsięwzięcie jest odpłatne, proponujemy uczestnictwo stacjonarne lub zdalne, gdyż konferencja będzie w całości transmitowana – online.

Eksperci

Miło nam poinformować, że wśród zaproszonych ekspertów, którzy wystąpią podczas GÓR ZARZĄDZANIA będą między innymi:
 Profesor Andrzej Kaleta – Rektor Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wrocławiu
 Profesor Ewa Bogacz – Wojtanowska – Dziekan Wydziału Zarządzania i Komunikacji Społecznej Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w Krakowie
 Profesor Marian Noga – Wyższa Szkoła Bankowa we Wrocławiu,
 Profesor Paweł Bartoszczuk – Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie,
 Profesor Marek Banaszkiewicz – Centrum Badań Kosmicznych PAN
 Profesor Kesra Nermend – Uniwersytet Szczeciński
 Grzegorz Dziarski – Związek Miast Polskich
 Monika Bartosiewicz – Niziołek – Prezes Polskiego Towarzystwa Ewaluacyjnego
 Profesor Kazimierz Perechuda – Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wrocławiu
 Marek Pasztetnik – Prezes Zachodniej Izby Gospodarczej,

 Profesor Stanisław Czaja – Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wrocławiu,
 Doktor Karolina Lipińska – Politechnika Gdańska,
 Profesor Jerzy Korczak – Uniwersytet Wrocławski,
 Krzysztof Kras – Grupa Kras,
 Antoni Piechniczek – trener polskiej reprezentacji w piłce nożnej.

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Investments on the Silk Road drive (not only) China’s maritime business

By Marek Grzybowski

Chinese companies were involved in 147 countries with an estimated amount of USD 67.8 billion through financial investments and contractual cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2022. This is slightly less than China’s involvement in BRI in 2021, which amounted to USD 68.7 billion, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC.

Approximately USD 32.5 billion was allocated to direct investments, and USD 35.3 billion were construction contracts, which were partly financed by Chinese loans. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s investment exposure in international markets has shown steady growth since 2020.

Cumulative investments under the BRI since the announcement of the BRI in 2013 amounted to USD 962 billion, of which approximately USD 573 in construction contracts and USD 389 in non-financial investments, enumerates Dr. Christoph Nedopil Wang, director and founder of the Green Finance & Development Center, associate professor at Fanhai International School of Finance (FISF) at Fudan University in Shanghai.

China’s average investment deal size increased from around US$444 million in 2020 and US$476 million in 2021 to US$650 million in 2022. This is the highest value since 2019. Compared to the peak in 2014, the investment deal volume is 21% smaller. In the case of construction projects, the transaction volume in 2022 was the lowest since the announcement of the BRI in 2013, as it decreased to USD 321 million compared to USD 530 million in 2021 and USD 386 million in 2020, according to data from the Ministry PRC Trade.

China’s investment involvement in BRI focuses on the energy sector (36% of expenditures) and the manufacturing sector for transport (18%), which, compared to 2021, is an increase in the total value by 60%. This is a continuation of the previously adopted strategy. This was noticeable in 2021.
Chinese involvement related to the energy sector accounted for the bulk of China’s BRI spending. In 2021, the total exposure in the energy sector was approximately USD 22.3 billion. This compares to an exposure of over USD 26.1 billion in 2020 and almost USD 44.8 billion in 2019. In 2021, the majority of investments in the energy-related sector concerned oil processing (31%), followed by use of solar and wind energy (31%) and gas (22%).

Source; Lommes – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58884083

More: Investments on the Silk Road  GospodarkaMorska.pl