• OMS - interoperable communication systems for electricity, gas, heat and water metering and sub metering
• Specification based on analysis of well-established European standards for coherent communications architecture
• Protection profile for smart metering systems to ensure the privacy and data security of smart metering systems

• The impact of the draft EU Data Protection Regulation on energy company practices
• Data privacy and access - who owns it, to what ends can it be used and the potential for misuse?
• Consumer improvement - what measures are needed to ensure transparency and good practices?

• Analyses of the smart consumer as positioned in international smart metering studies
• Findings from qualitative research with Australian energy consumers undertaken during the past decade
• The need to shift focus on what people use energy for (heating, cooling, laundering), rather than getting consumers to become rational micro-resource managers.

• The consumer benefits resulting from the roll out of smart metering around the world  -  first  phase conducted in 2011
• Lessons for successful roll outs and impact of new technologies  -  second phase currently underway
• The results of this second phase of research will be presented along with recommendations for successful roll outs for consumers

Tweaking Psychology to make Consumer Smart Pricing More Desirable than Fixed or Flat Pricing

• Smart metering as a platform for energy market transformation
• Helping to realise these opportunities for consumers through changes to market arrangements
• Enabling more efficient use of demand-side response

As the grid continues to evolve, the absence of defined communication standards is one of the biggest technological challenges to transition to smart grids. Budgets and entrenched approaches to change management also mean that utilities continue to roll out their smart grid projects in silos, with no shared platforms, which result in cumbersome and disjointed operations. The array of communications technologies abounds - but which are future-proof and which will become obsolete as the grid evolves?

Smart metering is seen as a catalyst for some of the biggest changes in the utility sector, with the potential to rewrite the roles and dynamics between the consumer, supplier and distributor and spearhead the development of smart grid. It is promised to transform an energy supplier to energy services provider, empower the consumer to adopt smart tariffs and energy efficiency behaviour, and help distributor balance the load and optimise the use of its assets.

• Costs and benefits from the consumers’ perspective
• How to meaningfully engage consumers in smart meters project and help them to become more energy efficient?
• The challenges to protect consumers and meet their expectations