On
Thursday, May 2nd, we brought together teams from energy management
companies Enernoc and EnergyPoints where the
discussion focused on how data is utilized to improve energy efficiency.
Stephen
Dillon, Data Architect and Technology Strategy, Schneider Electric kicked off
the program with the standard definition of Big Data and the 3 Vs (volume,
velocity, variety). He added a fourth, which the panel agreed to be the most
important – Value. Data is just data, it is the information you extract from it
that provides value to the end user.
Stephen continued to set the tone for the discussion with a list of
trends and expectations:
Dillon, Data Architect and Technology Strategy, Schneider Electric kicked off
the program with the standard definition of Big Data and the 3 Vs (volume,
velocity, variety). He added a fourth, which the panel agreed to be the most
important – Value. Data is just data, it is the information you extract from it
that provides value to the end user.
Stephen continued to set the tone for the discussion with a list of
trends and expectations:
· Real time analytics are critical
· Pushing computation towards the data, not the other way around
· Innovation can be accomplished by software designers
· Demand response time has and will continue to shrink
Mike
Rennick, Director of Applications and Seth Sheldon, Senior Scientist of
EnergyPoints followed with their introduction. Energy Points optimizes
efficiency for their customers by collecting a variety of geospatial data
(coming from water, energy, and other sources), transforming it into common
data points, to which they can then analyze. Their biggest challenge at present
time is understanding the variety of incoming data. A future challenge will be
resulting in the massive increase of volume – ultimately increasing the variety
– the sector is no doubt facing.
Rennick, Director of Applications and Seth Sheldon, Senior Scientist of
EnergyPoints followed with their introduction. Energy Points optimizes
efficiency for their customers by collecting a variety of geospatial data
(coming from water, energy, and other sources), transforming it into common
data points, to which they can then analyze. Their biggest challenge at present
time is understanding the variety of incoming data. A future challenge will be
resulting in the massive increase of volume – ultimately increasing the variety
– the sector is no doubt facing.
Don Jenkins,
Senior Director of Energy Markets and Data Quality and Prakriteswar (Santi)
Santikary, Director of Software Engineering from EnerNOC. Santi opened with his
view: big data initiatives = big opportunities – big challenges. He went on to say how it is imperative to
concentrate on the WHAT and WHY before reaching the HOW.
Senior Director of Energy Markets and Data Quality and Prakriteswar (Santi)
Santikary, Director of Software Engineering from EnerNOC. Santi opened with his
view: big data initiatives = big opportunities – big challenges. He went on to say how it is imperative to
concentrate on the WHAT and WHY before reaching the HOW.
The panel
went on to address a variety of topics including the big data hype, business
value, and the role of the cloud.
went on to address a variety of topics including the big data hype, business
value, and the role of the cloud.
Panelists
agreed that the hype exists due to what Santi called the “innovators dilemma”.
Organizations can’t get comfortable or they will be left behind. Innovation
needs to happen constantly and should follow the hype cycle. Seth built upon that remarking how the hype
also exists due to the real time nature and the promise to take advantage of
information in a meaningful way quickly.
agreed that the hype exists due to what Santi called the “innovators dilemma”.
Organizations can’t get comfortable or they will be left behind. Innovation
needs to happen constantly and should follow the hype cycle. Seth built upon that remarking how the hype
also exists due to the real time nature and the promise to take advantage of
information in a meaningful way quickly.
Deriving
business value stems from asking the right questions in the beginning. Understanding “what’s in it for the end
user?” There is so much data coming in that without knowing the right
questions, it is impossible to pull the needle from the haystack and deliver
the value. A continued effort to deliver this value comes with the need for
data visualization tools, enabling a simplified form of communicating
information to the stakeholders that the bare eye can understand.
business value stems from asking the right questions in the beginning. Understanding “what’s in it for the end
user?” There is so much data coming in that without knowing the right
questions, it is impossible to pull the needle from the haystack and deliver
the value. A continued effort to deliver this value comes with the need for
data visualization tools, enabling a simplified form of communicating
information to the stakeholders that the bare eye can understand.
Cloud
computing for the energy sector is overall a positive. Due to the nature of the
data there aren’t as many privacy and security concerns as other vertical
sectors and therefore it is not a hurdle to overcome. In fact it allows for
manipulation to be done in a way that it can be changed if problems occur of
solutions are not garnered. There are some challenges with interoperability,
however the panel did not see those challenges as permanent and that technology
and standards would continue to evolve.
computing for the energy sector is overall a positive. Due to the nature of the
data there aren’t as many privacy and security concerns as other vertical
sectors and therefore it is not a hurdle to overcome. In fact it allows for
manipulation to be done in a way that it can be changed if problems occur of
solutions are not garnered. There are some challenges with interoperability,
however the panel did not see those challenges as permanent and that technology
and standards would continue to evolve.
