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NETWORK / 15 / JULY/AUGUST 2016 W hat constitutes a smart city, grid, meter, home? Ask four industry experts and you will likely get four di erent de nitions for each label. The reason is simple – there is no de nitive de nition. Our current deep understanding of speci c elements (or silos) of smart energy dynamics – such as protection, asset management, control and auto- mation, tele communications, connec- tions and switchgear – is testament to the fact we have excelled as engineers at deconstructing large complex prob- lems to smaller more manageable ones that we can really focus on. In each of the disciplines, new and detailed language has been developed. But when trying to analyse whole energy system interactions, we meet a new level of complexity where again we are hampered by understanding and preconceived interpretation of the language we use to describe transformational outcomes across the delivery spectrum: policy, economics, environ- ment, technology and society in relation to networks. For example, most technical people believe they know what is implied by the phrase "smart". If you're a transport planner, it will be about e-mobility options or tra† c con- trol; for a power system engineer, it will be about control, monitoring and automation; for a policy analyst, it will S M A R T E N E R G Y D Y N A M I C S : L A N G U A G E A N D M O D E L L I N G Duncan Botting's next smart energy dynamics column will reveal some surprising fi ndings in response to the questions posed here. See the September issue of Network to read it. be about using technology to solve problems. Clearly this multiplicity of understanding does not help when communicating complex and sometimes highly technical transformations. Communication between experts can be fraught with misconception or misunderstanding and this confusion is ampli ed when messages are communicated to the public at large. To resolve some of this confusion, a step change is rst required in our approach to system modelling. Most of our current modelling on energy systems is based on static or quiescent operation of the energy networks. The modelling is usually reduced to look at one speci c part of the system so that we can understand its behav- iour under di erent conditions: normal, fault, start-up. As we move to whole energy system operation and interactions between electricity, gas, heating, cooling and transport, the development of dynamic modelling of highly complex interactions between technical, com- mercial, market constraints, commercial contracting and community schemes, becomes mind-boggling. New modelling will be required and new thinking will combine with legacy infrastructure to deliver more e† cient, better value propositions than yesterday's per- ceptions of lowest-cost delivery in deep isolated silos. Enter new technologies such as arti cial intelligence (AI), which can not only 'think' in multiple planes and disciplines in real time, but also learn from its mistakes. The march of transformation that new modelling, automation and AI technology will induce will happen with or without our guidance as an industry. With new governance for the country having to be addressed since the Brexit vote, we have a once-in-a- generation opportunity to rede ne our market structures and regulatory bodies in a whole systems methodology. Local and regional rather than national; distributed rather than centralised; small rather than large ambi- tions – all seem to resonate with communities who want to be drivers of change and no longer trust big corporates or monolithic government-enforced structures. With this backdrop, the idea that the word "smart" comprises only automation of the manual tasks and processes of yesterday is a fallacy. The need for common understand- ing across complex governance, commercial, environmental, technical and societal structures has never been more urgent or prescient. The smart dynamics world is not conceptual – many key elements are already in place and providing insights. The Institution of Engineering and Technology, in partnership with the Energy Systems Catapult, has delivered insightful whole systems think- ing in the Future Power Systems Architecture project commissioned by Decc. Liveable Cities, a project com- missioned by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to understand the dynamics of cities in the context of a whole system, is another key resource. There are many more pieces of this smart dynam- ics jigsaw, but with few people who understand these important trends and how they a ect networks, we are in danger of missing important enabling opportunities. DUNCAN BOTTING DIRECTOR GLOBAL SMART TRANSFORMATION "The need for common understanding across complex governance, commercial, environmental, technical and societal structures has never been more urgent or prescient."