The UK Government’s Energy White Paper, published on 14 December 2020 and has set out a series of historic commitments designed to assist the UK’s transition to net zero.
This event was held on Wednesday 26 May 2021 and saw our experts examine what the impact is on data ownership, cyber-security and data privacy, and how these challenges could be tackled for the energy sector.
Gemserv’s Data Protection and Information Security experts Kaveh Cope-Lahooti and Ian Davis were joined by David Trevithick, a Principal Analyst from Delta-E, for a lively discussion around:
- proposals for data use and sharing in the energy sector in light of the UK Government’s plans for the delivery of a digitalised energy system, as set out in the Energy White Paper;
- the benefits of data sharing in the energy sector for the UK Government’s policies and commitments for net zero; and
- the barriers to and challenges of energy data sharing and delivering a digitalised energy system, including competing regulatory frameworks and consumer trust.
The event was chaired by Ashley McLean a Senior Associate at Shepherd and Wedderburn.
If you missed this webinar, our experts have compiled key takeaways and you can also view the recording by clicking the button below.
Key Takeaways
-
Privacy and Security by design, the focus of the government’s proposed IoT regulation needs to be built into smart metering and consumer devices to allow user control over how their data is used by energy suppliers, home device manufacturers and other third parties.
Look to how other sectors have overcome the issues of sensitive data e.g. the payment card industry where there is widespread data sharing, made possible because the data is understood and there is a clear consensus on what needs to be obfuscated (and how) in order to secure the data whilst still enabling use by all interested parties.
-
Data sharing provides opportunities but poses security and privacy challenges. Market participants should endorse the Energy Data Taskforce’s recommendations to ensure asset information can be made open where possible, but may want to conduct a ‘Data Triage’ to ensure that the most security or consumer-sensitive information is only provided subject to appropriate due diligence.
Understand your data. What comes in, where is it, who uses it and where does it go. Only then can we accurately assign value to data which will greatly improve our risk assessments.