Energy is the pulse of our day-to-day life, but the drive for net zero will require a massive change in the way we create and use it. With new technologies and complex integration needed, it is increasingly clear that there is one important factor in making our future integrated energy systems work: data. That is the thinking behind the 14 January All-Energy/Dcarbonise webinar sponsored by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and chaired by Laura Sandys CBE, Chair of the Government's Energy Data Taskforce and Non-Executive Director, SGN & Energy System Catapult .

Energy is the pulse of our day-to-day life, but the drive for net zero will require a massive change in the way we create and use it. With new technologies and complex integration needed, it is increasingly clear that there is one important factor in making our future integrated energy systems work: data.

That is the thinking behind the 14 January All-Energy/Dcarbonise webinar sponsored by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and chaired by Laura Sandys CBE, Chair of the Government's Energy Data Taskforce and Non-Executive Director, SGN & Energy System Catapult and with an impressive panel of speakers from BEIS, Ofgem, UKRI, Grid Edge and Kaluza. Registration is open at https://forum.all-energy.co.uk/category/webinars/. A review of the 2020 26-strong webinar series appears on the same page.

Already, smart technology is entering our homes, and companies are using big data to respond better to consumer preferences. In the new energy future, distributed energy will clearly play a role. We are learning that digital technologies can make distributed energy the cheapest and cleanest form of energy.

UKRI's ‘Prospering from the Energy Revolution' programme is pioneering the data-enabled systems approach to unlock the benefits of smart local energy systems. These systems improve the efficiency of existing infrastructure, capture value and provide local jobs, helping to distribute prosperity; while society gains clean, cheap energy delivered in ways that suit modern net zero lives, lived locally.

Speakers on 14 January include:
● Dinker Bhardwaj, Head of Data Policy, Smart Energy, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
● Steven Steer, Head of Data, Ofgem
● Rob Saunders, Challenge Director, Prospering from the Energy Revolution, UKRI
● Dr Jim Scott, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Grid Edge
● Valts Grintals, Senior Flexibility Analyst, Kaluza

"Having held 26 webinars in a six-month period in 2020, viewed ‘live' or ‘on-demand' 17,100 times, we are breaking our followers in gently with just one webinar in January," explained Portfolio and Event Director, Jonathan Heastie of Reed Exhibitions. "This session brings together the government, the energy disruptors, and the regulators to discuss:
● How could better energy data satisfy both households and industry?
● What policies and regulations are needed to support innovative data-based solutions to provide new services?
● How can we ensure these innovations benefit diverse consumers, and protect everyone against emerging risks?
● What data frameworks are needed to enable local infrastructure investment and innovation at scale and pace in different places?

"We are grateful to UKRI for their on-going sponsorship. Their earlier webinar, ‘UKRI's Road to Net Zero: Investing for Innovation' held as part of our November All-Energy/Dcarbonise Virtual Summit is available for on demand viewing at https://forum.all-energy.co.uk/2020/10/14/ukris-road-to-net-zero-investing-in-innovation/.

"We look forward to welcoming their speakers and our audience on 14 January and, in the meantime, wish you all a happy holiday period and hope for some degree of normality to return in the New Year. We will be staging All-Energy and the co-located Dcarbonise at Glasgow's SEC on 18 and 19 August. The Call for Papers is open on the All-Energy website at www.all-energy.co.uk with a closing date of 31 March 2021."