Utility Week

18 | 3RD - 9TH APRIL 2020 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets Analysis Yes Energy works to support people in fuel poverty and is hugely reliant on the availability of good quality data, McCombie says: "Managing the quantity, complexity and regulatory rules around data is where we are focusing our e• orts now," he says. "Better data democracy is removing the unhelpful labelling of data to make it more cross-functional and allowing insight and innovation. This in turn delivers e- ciency in engagement and e• ective delivery." Data skills and literacy Interestingly, while the availability of skills and talent, especially in newer disciplines like data analysis, are o‚ en cited as chal- lenges in industry forums, respondents to this Utility Week survey dismissed the issue. Not a single respondent, incorporating individuals from a swathe of major regulated utilities and big names in competitive mar- kets, identi… ed skills as a key barrier to their data democratisation journeys. But Dobson is reluctant to accept the … nd- ing as indicative of a well-resourced and dig- itally capable sector. "Skills are a massive issue," he says. "Some of the responses [in this survey] such as data quality, risk management or security compliance can be compounded by lack of data skills in the right teams. "It can come down to the fear of doing something wrong or misinterpreting some- thing and feeling like you've made a wrong decision. "A lot of this can be addressed from a skills perspective. There is a big divide between the skills within technical or engi- neering teams and the skills within policy, regulation, compliance and assurance teams. This can create challenges when dif- ferent teams work together; there can be a lack of shared understanding which quickly becomes adversarial. "To a large extent, big organisations will need data teams to deal with the techni- cal aspects, but it's about embedding these skills across the organisation as well. Data literacy is important too – understanding what can be done and why you are making speci… c decisions." Opening up Despite the challenges identi… ed by the sur- vey – and some residual reticence from parts of the sector – there is clearly overwhelming support for the ambition of establishing "pre- sumed open" data across the utilities sector. Less than 5 per cent of the business lead- ers canvassed by Utility Week set themselves against the principle of presumed open data. This said, of those that expressed support for furthering a presumed open data agenda for utilities, over two-thirds said they could only do so "within certain parameters". Dobson, a leading advocate of establish- ing presumed open data principles across industry, is relaxed about this widespread caveat. He believes it is right that utilities companies should want to have restrictions over how open they make their data. "This is why we talk about presumed open rather than simply open data," he explains. "Open data has huge value and will drive innovation, but it's not always the right thing to do for everyone. "It is not always appropriate for every- thing to be open… but at least let's have a conversation about it rather than assume it can't be [open] without going through the process of thinking about–it. "Raising the level of conversation around it – that's the pragmatic view. That's why lots of people are saying 'yes, but', and that's exactly what we are looking for. On the pre- sumption of openness, I wouldn't expect any barriers at all." There are several reasons why fully open access to data might not be appropriate in every situation or for every business. These include: individual privacy of consumers, particularly in a GDPR environment; and security implications, especially in instances where national infrastructure is involved. Other common objections, though, tend to gravitate to the potential for consumer detriment and nervousness about the nega- tive commercial impacts of open data. Ultimately, the protection of consumers underlies many of the reasons behind lim- iting data democracy. But as McCombie at Yes Energy points out, data can still be open without necessarily being fully granular: "For example, we need to know if a street has ten people in fuel poverty, not which numbers they live at. We then need to engage the street to target the right households. "Currently we know the town has 3,000 people in fuel poverty – [that's like looking for] a needle in a haystack." So, while some may worry about the potential for negative consumer impacts from liberalised data access and use, failing to share data widely across the utilities eco- system will certainly slow down the delivery of e• ective support to those consumers in most need. Drivers and objectives Flipping the lens to look at the drivers and objectives of an open data initiative in the UK utilities sector, rather than barriers, Utility Week's survey shows there is still some uncertainty about the exact nature of the bene… ts that more open data will bring. But, nevertheless, there is a fundamental belief that it is an important step for common good to companies, the industry and consumers. A little over one-… ‚ h of respondents, including a majority of respondents from monopoly utilities in energy and water, say it is "critically important" that they are able to organise their organisational data better in order to commercialise it. They say future business models depend on this. Over half of respondents add that com- mercialising data is "somewhat" impor- tant and that their organisation sees "some opportunity in the commercialisation of its data". Around 26 per cent say it is not impor- tant to them at all. This widespread interest in com- mercialising data re¥ ects the level of continued from previous page "If everyone was able to share more eff ectively, and make their data more available, the whole system would benefi t by driving effi ciency." Richard Dobson, data systems practice manager, Energy Systems Catapult "Better data democracy is removing the unhelpful labelling of data to make it more cross-functional and allowing insight and innovation." Duncan McCombie, chief executive of Yes Energy "Better data democracy is removing the , chief executive of Yes Energy

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