{"id":10761,"date":"2021-04-17T11:31:08","date_gmt":"2021-04-17T09:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=10761"},"modified":"2021-04-17T11:31:08","modified_gmt":"2021-04-17T09:31:08","slug":"trends-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2021\/04\/17\/trends-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are the Top Utility Industry Tech Trends for 2021?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Photo: Unsplash\/XR Expo<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) allow employees to prepare for hazardous jobs and hone their skills without putting themselves at physical risk.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worktruckonline.com\/10137701\/utility-expo-2021-to-bring-industry-together-in-spirit-of-community\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Utility Expo<\/a> recently released a report on\u00a0how utilities can take advantage of technological trends to improve reliability, efficiency, safety, and security throughout their operations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"incontent02Ad\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cUtilities have to adjust to the new normal we live in,\u201d says\u00a0Stefan Wolf, utilities industry vice president\u00a0at SAP. \u201cIt\u2019s about being able to analyze data and predict future events.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cUtilities no longer have a choice but to embrace technology to foster innovation and change,\u201d says Brad Williams, vice president of industry strategy at Oracle Utilities. \u201cMachine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)\u00a0can supercharge the efficiency and resilience of the core business. Other technologies can lead to entirely new value-added services and business models.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Convergence of Data and Analytics<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Real-time data analytics offers incredible potential for the utility sector \u2014 from reducing outages and maintenance costs to improving demand response.<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>By applying sensors, AI, and machine learning to their systems, utilities can be more prepared and resilient. Severe weather is one example. By using historical weather patterns to predict the impact on the grid, utilities can have crews and equipment ready to restore power and minimize outages.<\/li>\n<li>Additional data collection points include smart meters, IoT device analytics, and implementing cloud-based solutions. This enables leaders to see\u00a0if tools are being implemented correctly, and if everyone is working from the same data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Supporting the Renewable Transition<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As the energy sector shifts to solar, wind, and other renewable sources, forward-looking utilities are using new technologies to ease the transition.<\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-incontent01\" class=\"banner-im\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>With distribution energy resources (DER) and smart home devices playing a bigger role, utilities are looking for new opportunities to leverage data to create innovative customer connections.<\/li>\n<li>If <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worktruckonline.com\/10133690\/creating-data-that-can-help-drive-electric-fleet-vehicles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EV growth<\/a> continues at its present rate, utilities will grapple with peak load impacts at the grid edge \u2014 particularly on hot days \u2014 when people come home from work and plug in their vehicles. A single EV can double the demand of a typical home.<\/li>\n<li>EVs and batteries\/microgrids offer utilities opportunities to work more directly with the end user, especially by encouraging use during optimal times.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">New Tools to Secure The Grid<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The more distributed the grid gets, the more entry points exist for cybersecurity threats.<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Technology has enabled a greater amount of interconnectivity with things like IoT and edge devices to manage operations. This opens more ways for potential bad actors to access systems. Tools such as advanced analytics can test data streams \u2014 both from the distribution grid and the communication network \u2014 for signs of intrusion or manipulation. This helps utilities see potential weak points and address them in real time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Improving Training and Safety<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Finding, training, and retaining skilled workers continues to be one of the industry\u2019s biggest challenges. Utilities are applying new technologies to give employees the training they need and improve jobsite safety.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) allow employees to prepare for hazardous jobs and hone their skills without putting themselves at physical risk.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Drones\u00a0can be a powerful tool for utility companies, enabling them to inspect\u00a0and maintain\u00a0powerlines and other distributed utilities equipment without putting workers at risk.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p-16-gray\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.automotive-fleet.com\/authors\/324937\/staff\">Originally posted on <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.worktruckonline.com\/10141009\/what-are-the-top-utility-industry-tech-trends-for-2021\">Work Truck Online<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p-16-gray\">by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.automotive-fleet.com\/authors\/324937\/staff\">Work Truck Staff<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"posted-by\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.automotive-fleet.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.automotive-fleet.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/consultancy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>CUT COTS OF THE FLEET WITH OUR AUDIT PROGRAM<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/consultancy\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5377\" src=\"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/04\/nueva-ley-auditoria.jpg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 858px) 100vw, 858px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/04\/nueva-ley-auditoria.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/04\/nueva-ley-auditoria-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/04\/nueva-ley-auditoria-1024x682.jpg 1024w\" alt=\"\" width=\"858\" height=\"572\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The audit is a key tool to know the overall status and provide the analysis, the assessment, the advice, the suggestions and the actions to take in order to cut costs and increase the efficiency and efficacy of the fleet. We propose the following fleet management audit.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/consultancy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo: Unsplash\/XR Expo Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) allow employees to prepare for hazardous jobs and hone their skills without putting themselves at physical risk. The Utility Expo recently released a report on\u00a0how utilities can take advantage of technological trends to improve reliability, efficiency, safety, and security throughout their operations. \u201cUtilities have to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[80],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10761"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10763,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10761\/revisions\/10763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}