Sergio Lazzarotto – Securing the last mile of utility ecosystems

Sergio Lazzarotto, President and Executive Director of the DLMS User Association, is driving innovation through standardisation and evolving the DLMS UA from a standard initially focused on electricity smart metering to gas, water, heat and now potentially other vertical applications.

“Our ambition is to standardise the data exchange protocol to enable the digitalisation of the last mile of critical infrastructure networks, guaranteeing full interoperability between connected devices,” he says.

What are the main data types and uses within DLMS?

We don’t use data directly but we ensure that data is formatted and securely transported to meet the requirements of end users. We ensure that the data transported using the DLMS protocol is in compliance with all legislation in terms of privacy and security.

To do this we work hand in hand with the data users. If we take the consumer who wants digital convenience as an example, that means opening up data which was not previously accessible. There are metrologically related legislations in place that forbid opening up certain data access to data users either due to privacy or because of the means to access the data.

Together with other standardisation bodies we try to influence and make proposals so that the legislation can evolve not only to meet the needs of our device manufacturer members but also to meet the demand of the market.

What challenges and/or barriers are experienced in this?

There are several major barriers, but the main barrier I see is that the water and energy markets are strategic infrastructures that require devices to operate together within a standardised and regulated ecosystem, using a standardised type of data.

To achieve this, an alignment is required between the players using the data, what the market is demanding and how legislation is evolving. All three elements need to work in parallel but, in reality, they are completely siloed ecosystems. The manufacturers are most likely to drive these changes, but they also need to be aligned and cooperate.

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There are many standards that flourish, created by private companies, with the aim of being financially successful. In some cases, these privately backed standards emerge from public-funded projects, and unfortunately new standards are created rather than integrating their innovative ideas into proven standardisation bodies to accelerate what they are doing, resulting in market confusion.

In parallel, the leading standardisation bodies need to be working with the government bodies to provide the appropriate inputs for the legislative framework to evolve. There are some good examples of standardisation choices taken by manufacturers which, due to late legislation changes, resulted in major economic damages for them and we need to avoid a repeat situation of this.

How or by whom could these issues be overcome?

I would suggest that all public-funded projects with standardisation being a direct or indirect objective should integrate into their consortia recognised standardisation bodies. Those institutions allocating the public funding have the capabilities to drive this. This would be a fantastic opportunity to innovate through standardisation and bring those competences into these consortia, often composed of academic institutions and start-ups.

On the other side, the standardisation bodies need to be more open to change and collaborate more openly with start-ups, helping them to integrate standardisation which can drive innovation. Standardisation shouldn’t be seen as an activity undertaken by old engineers at the end of their careers, but rather an important pillar of company strategy.

Wherever possible, the standardisation bodies need to align with government bodies and to a certain extent vice versa. Legislation aims to leave the market as open as possible, but as an example for interoperability in the digital space, the data exchange protocol among devices needs to be standardised as much as possible.

These two aspects are in contradiction and an idea would be to recommend ‘default’ solutions, which are a reference standard in the legislation, but still leave the market free to adopt a different solution if that is what is desired.

How can data and digitalisation assist in achieving the Green Deal?

At the DLMS UA, we are advocating that the energy market is at cross-roads similar to that of the telecommunication industry in the mid-2000s. We believe the energy market needs to start looking at ‘energy-as-a-service’. Back then, the telecommunications world was highly standardised and highly regulated, and they charged by minutes of voice.

Today, they sell communication as a service where one pays a subscription, gets a device and gigabytes of data as part of a subscription, and can use this data when one wants, how one wants and at the speed one wants.

The same logic can be applied to energy. This means moving from a system of measuring kilowatts and charging for kilowatts consumed, to a new model where energy is supplied as needed, at the time it’s needed and at the price one is willing to pay at that moment.

This is where I see the market going and I believe will contribute to a better use of energy. We have a lot of energy available, but it is not always used in the most efficient way. For example, take heat pumps which demand energy because the temperature goes below a set threshold. What happens if one delays turning on the heat pump by two hours to get out of the peak? Nothing, because with the thermal inertia in the home, you will not even feel the difference!

With your experience as an international body, are the challenges universal?

In the past, the energy world was highly regulated, particularly in electricity, and managed by state owned companies. But over the years, more and more companies have been privatised and there has been a shift in mindset as they now operate within a highly profitable business approach, often looking to expand their business beyond their traditional borders.

As a result, there is more interest in international standardization. You can have a device of which the basic 99% can be the same across the world, thanks to the standard, and the manufacturer can add value to the 1% to differentiate or to fulfill specific requirements for an individual country. This means the device is plug and play for that 99% and this is what enables healthy competition.

If the standards are forward-looking and developed together with the most advanced countries, the 99% of what is standardized can then be proposed to other emerging countries as the way forward without having to reinvent the wheel. We, in collaboration with the major national standardisation bodies, are advocating to think globally but collaborate regionally when it comes to standardisation and interoperability.

What policy recommendations would you have for Europe?

There are two focus areas. The first one is the security of the data. With the increased use of wireless technology in the energy and water markets due of the growth of connected devices needing energy and water data, security weaknesses have arisen exponentially, particularly when commissioning and decommissioning devices.

Therefore, within data exchange standardisation, it is essential that we secure not only the exchange of all the data, but that the data exchange security should take into consideration the commissioning and decommissioning of the devices into the network.

The second recommendation concerns data privacy. Information relative to what is being consumed and when it is consumed belongs to the end-consumer. The end-consumer should have the choice whether or not to share that information and have ability to do so.

The data can be aggregated in an anonymous way for analysis purposes but when the data is linked to an individual, it's up to them to decide if that data is shared or not. Here a more harmonised data privacy framework will certainly help to drive market development at a faster pace and more importantly those at the source of the data creation should be responsible for standardising how data can be accessed and not the other way around.

How would you recommend this is implemented?

e-Banking could be an example, which has a high degree of security with different steps needed to establish a secure connection of a device including device authentication. In some cases, QR codes and double device secure communication with identification and device authentication are used, but there are plenty of technologies out there that can be used.

This is what DLMS is doing. About 18 months ago, the we released new security suites with what we believe offers the highest degree of data encryption that is available today. We are now working on finalising the commissioning and decommissioning of devices with digitally signed certificates for device authentication and identification. By the year end, this will become the main pillar for opening energy data access to third parties who can use the data to offer innovative services to consumers.

Then, there is the security of the digital convenience for the end user. For example, if I need to charge my electric vehicle and this calls to access or approve an energy transaction, I need to make sure that I am the only one who is capable of accepting this price transaction, but I don’t want to have to sit in front of my smart meter or EV charger to do so.

These aspects are fundamental. A lot of people argue that the data is needed and should be shared but our approach is to take a deeper look at the data that is required – for what use, from whom, from where? If these questions are not answered, then you are opening up the strategic infrastructures networks to hackers to gain access and wreak havoc, potentially even switching off the electricity in a town!

Electricity, water, gas, and heat are strategic infrastructures and are the lifeblood of a city. If they are not running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, the city will shut down!