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UTILITY WEEK | 20TH - 26TH MAY 2016 | 19 nism, which ensures a one-way flow of the drainage water and can prevent any tidal water from the River Severn from entering the freshwater channels. Because it was not possible to lower the water levels sufficiently, ECS used an underwater diving team to install the new flap valve and the sub- frame for the screw pump. If you have an asset or project you would like to see featured in this slot, email: paul.newton@fav-house.com Pipe up Simon Harrison I have had the immense good fortune to chair the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and Energy Systems Catapult's Future Power System Architecture project, which was presented recently at the Catapult's formal London launch. Together with my colleagues' work on digital infrastructure, this has given me a window onto how utility infrastructure may look in the future, and arguably the skills that will be relevant. One of the big challenges of utility infrastructure is that most of what will be in use in 2030, or 2050, is prob- ably in use already today. It will still need to be main- tained, repaired and optimised. However, by 2030 we are likely to be working very dif- ferently. Networks will be smart by default and we will probably have found ways to produce smart information from the old infrastructure. But that will just be the start. Our customers will be in a different world, with inno- vation moving at technology company and consumer product speed, not the time- scales we are used to. Technol- ogy companies will "own the home", gathering and monetising information and in turn driving levels of consumer engagement and trust utilities and energy suppliers can only dream about at present. There may well be local energy storage, and certainly smart appliances that optimise costs of usage via time of use tariffs. Conventional elec- tric vehicles, charging at home and stressing the electric- ity system accordingly, may be giving way to shared driverless vehicles, summoned on demand, and charging in more centralised locations when they need to. Consumers will likely live much more virtual lives; those brought up on Facebook may find little need to travel to an office, so will work at home – changing overall travel, energy and water demand patterns. They will also likely be ever more demanding as customers; getting online interactions right will be vital. What does all this mean for utility company skills? We will still need to develop and motivate the people who will devote their careers to keeping old assets in good health. But at the same time the focus will need to shi towards managing agility of response to change, data science and management, design of optimal inter- ventions in a smart world, consumer engagement, and integration between infrastructures. In short, skills that are more like those technology companies employ today. Unless we act to bring such people into the industry (or retrain those we have), we will struggle to reap the harvest of digital infrastructure. Simon Harrison, group strategic development manager, Mott MacDonald "By 2030 we are likely to be working very differently. Networks will be smart… the focus will need to shift" Operations & Assets "Most of what will be in use in 2030, or 2050, is probably in use already today"