What’s happened so far

In April we held the second of our Phase 3 Advisory Groups tasked with shaping the Open Energy programme of work in the following areas: 1) Membership and 2) Delivery. The Steering Group also met to provide guidance on our overarching strategy.

The three groups convene monthly and include a wide range of industry leaders and subject matter experts, representing a cross section of private and public players with a unique contribution. Our Advisory Groups help us to understand how the UK may better modernise energy data access from a 360 perspective, and ensure that Open Energy is designed effectively for the benefit of society.

Here’s a summary of everything achieved and discussed in the April meetings.

Membership

Approved this month:

  • Open Energy Terms of Reference for the Advisory Groups and Steering Group
  • Standard definitions, acronyms and terminology to be used in Open Energy (Section 2 of Operational Guidelines)
  • Consultation on data sensitivity classes (closed 30-April)
  • Amends to Introduction (Section 1) of Operational Guidelines
  • Roadmap for future Membership Advisory Group meetings (May, June, July)
  • Membership charging principles: not-for-profit, proportionate, inclusive

Still in discussion:

  • Membership funding structure
    • What are the minimum viable components required to create an attractive membership proposition?
    • What are the key criteria between levels of membership?
  • Governance structure
    • What is the role of the membership in decision making?
    • How can we ensure that smaller participating members are heard and larger members are not able to ‘pay for influence’?
    • What are the proposed procedures for ongoing internal governance?
    • How should we manage problem resolution and dispute policies?
  • Operational Guidelines
    • Outstanding sections
    • Review of full draft
  • Relationships between data providers and service providers
    • Ongoing questions concerning scope between the two

Delivery

Approved this month:

  • Open Energy Terms of Reference for the Advisory Groups and Steering Group
  • Standard definitions, acronyms and terminology to be used in Open Energy (Section 2 of Operational Guidelines)
  • Consultation on data sensitivity classes (closed 30-April)
  • Users and key players within the Open Energy ecosystem – Data Providers / Service providers / Dual roles

Still in discussion:

  • The Open Energy onboarding process
    • How can we create a frictionless onboarding process for different organisations/clients/users?
    • Requirements may differ for large companies and/or SMEs due to the legal/commercial implications for their own data management/access policies 
  • Data provider guidelines
    • Data sharing architecture, dynamics, processes and mechanics – including APIs
    • Potential classification issues:
      • One entity with different data sets and varying openness levels
      • Entities that are both data providers and service providers
    • How to deal with shifting collaboration partners and timed projects
  • Data access policy
    • Conditions for data access, using data sensitivity classes as a starting point for discussion
  • Data licensing policy
    • Potential legal and/or commercial matters that may arise as companies open/share data
    • Potential complications re: data redistribution and/or combination and/or onward sharing
    • Dealing with evolving levels of “Openness” for different datasets, especially regulated and/or code based

Steering Group

The Steering Group reviewed what we are aiming to achieve over the next six months, highlighting the importance of the Steering Group in raising and resolving any unanswered questions.

Actions from the April meeting:

  • Capture use cases
    • Clarify what liability gets carried where, in which use case
  • Refine communications
    • What is Open Energy?
    • What are we delivering vs what we are enabling?
    • What is the future roadmap?
  • Define the pricing plan
    • What is needed in the short/medium/long term?
    • Role and approach for continuity funding

Join us as a beta tester organisation

Help shape the future of Open Energy and apply to join us as a beta tester organisation. Beta applications will close on 0900 BST 18 May 2021.