Global collaboration needed to promote smart grid, says NIST coordinator

SUBNET Solutions Inc | Monday, April 25, 2011

According to Dean Prochaska, the coordinator of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, global collaboration is necessary in order to best utilize and augment the smart grid.

Prochaska discussed the role of the Smart Grid Interoperabilty Panel, which was created in 2009 and has 664 organizations as partners, at a breakfast event in Washington. While many of these partners are U.S.-based, 21 are located in Europe and 16 in Asia. Prochaska stated that furthering the panel's relationships and expanding into different areas of the world is key.

According to the coordinator, the NIST's cyber security guidelines have already been translated into Chinese by the country's sector partners. Taking this notion a step farther, Prochaska stated that developing a global set of standards would eventually "avoid unnecessary adaptations for different markets." This would then lead to lower costs and further innovative developments for smart grid technologies.

Achieving interoperability, reliability, security and "evolvability" are among the NIST's main goals regarding the smart grid. To meet these goals, developing standards, data models and protocols is essential, Prochaska stated.

Tags: Substation Cyber Security