Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1003889
NETWORK / 9 / JULY/AUGUST 2018 savings can be huge. Inspections can also be mobilised much quicker so if there was a storm a drone could be checking on the assets much quicker than a helicopter. Hav- ing the drone on stand has brought a lot of people in. There's an interest and appetite there, but without this operational frame- work you can't go much further." Talking about disruption in the energy sector, she added: "We hosted the Big Energy Pitch and what came through really strongly from the SMEs that were pitching to our expert panel were things like Artifi- cial Intelligence and Big Data. With utilities there's lots of dead data or untapped data so it is about how to unlock that. We hear a lot about RIIO2 and third-party engagement and we see ourselves as a vehicle to help with that. Ofgem is calling for third party engagement and we're really keen to help." Innovation matters Wayne Smith, innova- tion implementation manager at Northern Gas Networks, told Net- work that he believes there is now a better understanding of what innovation means. "There's been a period of understanding what innova - tion is. Now we can mould that and make it more beneficial. We're starting to see the fruits of it. In the first years I guess it's fair to say that we were finding our feet and contextualising what innovation means. But now it is starting to piece together and we're able to articulate robust benefits that we're able to deliver back to the customer. "The (Ofgem) funding stimulus has put us in a good position to start exploring innovations and take risks that perhaps we wouldn't have been geared up to take." Dan Hopkinson, director of data and transformation at ElectraLink, perhaps unsurprisingly chose data as the biggest disruptor. "I think the thing that stands out from this show, even against last year's, is the change in emphasis from hard utilities – pipes and stuff – to technology, IT, data and new ways of working. "It was very much about digging holes in the road, but now it's all about data. We're an organisation that exists to share data between organisations. What we're seeing is organisations saying: 'how can I access data in new ways?' It's absolutely vital. We've got a data set that has all of the embedded generation of the distribution networks. It is vital that distribution companies are able to access that." Putting technology into practice Chris Goodhand, innovation manager at Northern Powergrid, believes the industry is currently facing a period of "unprecedented uncertainty". "We're always told that we're at a time of unprecedented change in the industry. I think we're at a time of unprecedented uncertainty and I'm not entirely convinced that we know the path we're going to go down," he explained. "I think from an inno - vation perspective there are a lot of new and interesting technologies. We've invested an awful lot of money into that over the last 10 years. The innovation spend in the industry has really gone through the roof and I think we've got a lot of interesting technology. "What we really need to do is under - stand how to put that technology into new systems that allow us to serve our custom- ers. Its bringing bits of technology together to do something that we can't do currently. It's a combination of how do you get those technological systems to work that adds value to the customer within some sort of economic framework. I would guess that takes you into the DSO model and what that DSO model is actually going to be. I don't think we're particularly clear what that is. We've all got a picture in our head of what it might be, but I think we've got to move down the path of figuring out what it will actually look like and start to move towards that in terms of generating these integrated systems." Going forward Goodhand doesn't want regulation to hamper innovation. He added: "We've got to keep moving forwards and regulation has to help support that. To a certain extent Ofgem have done a very good job of supporting innovation, but they need to understand that it will require some changes in regulation at times. The bit of in - novation they do has got to support the in- novation that we do. It's a thing that we do together and move forward together. They're intelligent people at Ofgem and they listen to what we say and I'm sure they see the di - rection we'd like to go in that helps support the economy, our businesses and our ability to serve our customers going forward. "The world will travel forward and it will at some point tip and drag us. Electric vehicles look like they're one of the key can - didates for doing that. They will alter the load profiles that we're having to deal with. There will come a point as we develop our DSO model that something contingent will come along and drag us in that particular direction." For many at Utility Week Live the direction of travel is upwards. The event provided an insight into what disruption in the energy sector looks like, but the way in which it is dealt with will be key to driving the industry forward. The event featured a number of exhibitors across several zones.