Utility Week

38 | MAY 2023 | UTILITY WEEK Pan-utility with new levels of data competency so they understand and categorise data in the same way to build e ciencies. Pararajasingam says SES Water is plan- ning to launch data literacy workshops to get people on board with using the same terms for data across di• erent areas of the business so that everyone's on the same page. Gated community? In a world where open data is now an expec- tation – recognised as helping speed inno- vation within and between companies and acting as a vital enabler for net zero – utili- ties come up against the conundrum of how to manage complexity on their networks without putting constraints on certain data ows and sharing. The very concept of open data seems to run counter to the notion of keeping a degree of control over data and putting data behind a € rewall to ensure companies don't fall foul of any issues. Pioneering open data projects, includ- ing Project Stream for the water sector and a "digital spine" across the energy system, aim to work through the nuts and bolts of how to make it work. UK Power Networks is pushing out a variety of open data through a new portal launched in 2021, which Webb claims has actually managed to reduce the € rm's risk pro€ le rather than increase it. The portal and associated govern- ance framework focuses on data in the public realm and exploits a data triage process to understand the potential limita- tions and risks of publication and how to mitigate‹them. "That improved understanding, control, and coordination, including a greater focus on the potential downsides of sharing data, enabled us to take those risks away, while also providing a better service and access to data by the end consumer," says Webb. Moving forward, UK Power Networks plans to not only respond to prevailing cus- tomer wants, needs and demands for data, but also be more proactive and exploratory, pushing out datasets that there is perhaps no clear requirement or request for, but which it thinks might provide value to a cer- tain community. As more complex digital infrastructure blurs the boundaries between companies, it creates new opportunities for hackers to tar- get weaknesses in the supply chain. Given water and energy companies' role operating critical infrastructure and handling sensitive data, it's a ball they cannot a• ord to drop. The government's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has been working closely with utilities to advise on what cyber-security best practice looks like, for systems such as IoT devices, and how it should be incorporated from design through to installation. Lessons can be learnt from robust security measures implemented on the UK's smart meter network by the Data Communications Company (DCC), an organisation set up by the government to manage smart meter com- munications on behalf of suppliers. DCC's highly secure digital spine wraps home energy use data using multiple layers of encryption and transports it on a network that operates entirely separately from the public internet. This model operates at the highest security levels and has been origi- nally designed with the with the support of the NCSC. DCC, which operates and moni- tors the network, ensure a secure transport of the energy information from the devices in consumers' premises directly to the energy suppliers. According to Silvano Sogus, Director of Security Architecture at DCC, one of the big- gest challenges as digital systems become more complex is not only making sure they are protected against increasing adversarial threats, but also are future-proof and can accommodate technological evolution. "Our infrastructure needs to be exible enough to accommodate growing demand for our existing services but also to adopt entirely new paradigms," says Silvano. "For example, quantum-resistant cryptography [using new ciphers that can resist quantum computers' ability to attack conventional cryptography] will be an important topic for us and we are already looking into how we will be able to adapt to new algorithms and integrate them in our systems." DCC's Silvano Sogus will speak about cyber security risks in the utilities sector at Utility Week Live on 16 May. Utilities operate in a rapidly evolving ecosystem, both from a technological stand- point, and in terms of changing stakeholders, market participants and consumer expecta- tion and demand, all set in the broader con- text of an energy crisis and environmental breakdown. E• orts to build their capacity to manage and organise data will put them in a stronger position to tackle these challenges in the months and years ahead. Jane Gray, content director Event continued from previous page "Our infrastructure needs to be fl exible enough to accommodate growing demand for our existing services but also to adopt entirely newparadigms." Silvano Sogus, director of security, DCC "Our infrastructure needs to be fl exible enough to accommodate growing demand for our existing services but also to adopt entirely newparadigms." , director of security, DCC 1617 MAY, NEC, BIRMINGHAM See this content brought to life at Utility Week Live. Register free at: utilityweeklive.co.uk The bigger the universe of data utilities handle, the greater the concern about cyber-security

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