Utility Week

22 | 29TH JUNE - 5TH JULY 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets Workshop Utility Week-Wipro Technology and Innovation Council, 18 June – Soho Hotel, London Y ou don't need to know the ins and outs of how blockchain works to use it – much like the internet. However, many people still don't have even a baseline understanding of what blockchain is, which is putting them off trying to adopt this much talked about technology to benefit their busi- ness. This was one of the conclusions to come out of a workshop held in London by the Utility Week-Wipro Technology and Inno- vation Council. Blockchain – the technology underpin- ning digital currencies like Bitcoin – has been grabbing the headlines because of its potential to transform financial transactions. It's embryonic but a few utility companies and their suppliers are waking up to its pos- sibilities as a vehicle for radically changing the way they do business and interact with customers. Put simply, blockchain is a method of recording data – a digital ledger of transac- tions, agreements and contracts. The big dif- ference is that this ledger isn't stored in one place, it's distributed across hundreds or even thousands of computers. At the seminar concerns were raised that a lack of education and the resultant "fear of the unknown" could be putting utility companies off adopting the technology. One participant to the discussion stated that the word "blockchain" is already "stained" by negative media coverage of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, which are "oen found in the crime section of the newspapers". This, in turn, has caused public perception based on false assumptions. The workshop, titled "Understanding Blockchain for Utilities", sought to help companies gain a better understanding of blockchain and hear about how some com- panies are adopting the technology. The day began with a series of presentations from industry experts, before attendees split into three groups to think about the potential applications of blockchain to their current operations. Kicking off the presentations, Wipro lead consultant Muneeb Iqbal Shah pointed out that blockchain is not a new technology, it has been around for two decades or more, albeit in a nascent form. "We have to be very careful not to confuse blockchain with cryp- tocurrency," he said. Blockchain is a digital ledger in which transactions made in Bitcoin or similar are recorded chronologically and publicly. Attendees agreed that educating deci- sion-makers is vital if utility companies are to exploit the benefits of the technology, of which there are many. The views of the room chimed with that of a recent piece of research carried out by Utility Week and Wipro. The survey asked respondents to rate, on a scale from 1 to 5, the extent to which different technologies and innovations will transform their business over the next ten years. Thirty- nine per cent scored blockchain 4-5 – "very transformative", and 39 per cent scored it 3. A full report of results will be published by the council in the autumn. One attendee to the workshop suggested blockchain was unlikely to be rolled out any time soon, because of the governance issues and the changes to regulation which would be needed to facilitate its rollout. But despite a consensus in the room that blockchain will likely not reach the mainstream for another 5-6 years at least, there are markets which could benefit from the technology sooner, such as the new non-household water retail market. MOSL's digital strategy committee chair Nick Rutherford claimed in his presentation that blockchain has the potential to revolu- tionise this market, which opened to compe- tition in April last year. Blockchain would streamline processes such as new connections and customer switching and settlement – which are cur- rently laborious and "admin-heavy". By cut- ting out certain parts of these processes, the use of blockchain – a digitised, decentral- ised, public ledger of transactions – could make them instantaneous, Rutherford sug- gested. Currently, the settlement process can take anywhere between 30 and 60 days. He insisted the water retail market is ripe for the take-up of the technology, as it is "centralised and new". "We're heavily reli- ant on asset and meter read information, which is shared across multiple stakeholders across the industry," he said, adding: "We're a small market that is simple in comparison to the energy sector – there are only retail- ers and wholesalers in our marketplace. But also, we're going to grow, both in terms of functionality, but also in terms of demo- graphics, so as and when domestic competi- tion arrives in the water sector, that's going to increase our footfall from 1 million cus- tomers to maybe 60 million customers." The general feeling in the room was one of optimism about the benefits blockchain can bring. Although it may not reach main- stream use for another 4-6 years, delegates at the workshop concluded, there are some markets that look set to benefit from the technology much sooner. At a time when energy is becoming more decentralised and consumers of energy and water are becoming "prosumers", util- ity companies are being forced to move to a more customer-focussed and digital mind- set. Blockchain can aid that transformation, but first utility decision-makers must be educated about what blockchain is, to avoid them being put off by the negative connota- tions of the technology in the mainstream consciousness. Understanding blockchain Blockchain is the technology buzzword of the moment, but there is a lot of ignorance about it from consumers and businesses alike. Lois Vallely reports from a workshop that sought some clarity.

• Cover