Innovate UK has invited small innovative data companies to help solve the energy industry’s fundamental problem of exchanging digital energy information between each other and externally. The competition responds to a challenge set by the Energy Data Task Force to open up data so new products or services can be developed.
Together with Ofgem and BEIS, Innovate UK have launched a £1.9 million competition to improve data availability by developing a ’common data architecture’ that would enable companies to offer new services and products by combining energy data sources with other data. The architecture is the first step and it is required to set up the next building blocks - an asset registration strategy, a data catalogue and a digital system map.
Ofgem’s example of how the architecture will be used is rolling out EV charging points. An operator should be able to combine electricity network data on the best connection points with geolocation, environmental data to assess the opportunity to add local generation, and other social data (such as traffic and demographics) to make a business case.
The competition will have three phases. In 4-6 week ‘discovery’ phase three groups will aim to prove the validity of the common data architecture concept, or disprove it by identifying a superior alternative. In a 9-12 week second phase two of the groups will try to prove that a solution can be built by delivering a piece of functionality that validates the approach and roadmap. In the final 15-40-week phase
phase one group will deliver a ‘minimum viable product’ that can be rolled out for real users, although it will not be opened to the public.
The application window closes on 2 January.
Full details on how to apply from InnovateUK here.
See a webcast on the briefing event here