Programme

Day 1: Tuesday 23rd February 2010

8:15 – 9:00	Registration
9:00 – 10:30	Opening Plenary and Keynote Address
10:30 – 11:00	Opening of the Exhibition
11:00 – 12:30	Parallel sessions: Addressing key policy challenges
	ICT4EE Forum Presentation of the programme	Smart Sustainable Cities Green Digital Charter	Smart Metering Presentation of case studies
12:30 – 14:00	Lunch and Networking
14:00 – 15:30	Parallel sessions: Continuation
	Policy debate	National and regional Initiatives in support of Smart Sustainable Cities	Policy debate
15:30 – 16:00	Coffee break
16:00 – 17:30	Parallel sessions: Continuation
	Policy debate and operational conclusions	ICT Investments and Sustainability goals	Policy debate and operational conclusions
17:30 – 19:00	Award Ceremony
	Cocktail and networking

Day 2: Wednesday 24th February 2010

9:00 – 10:30	Parallel sessions: Demonstrating progress and the way forward
	Smart Buildings Reinforcing cooperation between the ICT and building and construction sector	Transport Logistics and Full Electric Vehicles Transport Logistics: Presentations and debate on operational practices	Smart Grids: Infrastructure and New Business Models Infrastructural and regulatory challenges: Policy debate
10:30 – 11:00	Coffee break
11:00 – 12:30	Parallel sessions: Continuation
	Improving energy performance of buildings	Full Electric Vehicles: Presentations and debate on infrastructure integration	New Business Model: Policy debate
12:30 – 12:45	Closing Plenary
12:45 – 14:00	Lunch

Day 1: Tuesday 23rd February 2010

Opening Plenary

The plenary will be opened by:

• Neelie Kroes, The Digital Agenda Commissioner
• Juan Tomás Hernani, State Secretary, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation
• Patrizia Toia, MEP Vice-Chairwoman of Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
• Francisco de la Torre Prados, Mayor of Málaga, Spain
• Javier Villalba Sánchez, CEO of Iberdrola Networks Business
• Luis Neves, Chairman of the Board Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI)

Chair:Zoran Stančič, Deputy Director General, DG Information Society and Media, European Commision

Parallel sessions: Addressing key policy challenges

1. ICT4EE Forum

Setting ambitious targets by the ICT sector for improving the energy and environmental performance of its processes is of the utmost importance. Progress towards such targets should be measurable and verifiable. Targets should be updated as more reliable baseline data becomes available. In response to the EC Recommendation the ICT sector is in the process of setting up through its sector associations an ICT for Energy Efficiency (ICT4EE) Forum that would work to adopt and implement a common framework to measure the sector's energy and carbon footprints, set targets and benchmark progress.

The Forum would also be the place to initiate dialogues with specific sectors (buildings & construction, transport & logistics, energy supply…) with the aim of identifying how ICT solutions can contribute to the more intelligent and efficient use of energy. The dialogues will be used to inform the parties about what role ICT can play, as well as to understand the challenges and energy-efficiency opportunities of the sector.

This session will be the occasion to announce the creation of the ICT4EE Forum, supported by the key industry associations of the sector (Digital Europe, GeSI, JBCE and Tech America), to present its aims and objectives as well as the roadmap for the coming 2 years. Independent experts – mandated by the Commission to assist it in the supervision of this Forum – will present their views on the proposed plan.

2. Smart Sustainable Cities

In line with the EC Recommendation the Green Digital Charter commits cities to work together to deliver on the EU energy and climate objectives using digital technologies, establishing specific objectives and means of achieving them. Moreover, the document stipulates that the cities deploy five large-scale ICT pilots per city before 2015. The Charter was signed on 27 November, in Stockholm, by the mayors of 14 major European cities.

The objective of the session is to have a policy discussion, bringing together the mayors who have already signed the Charter, the mayors who would be ready to sign it during the ICT4EE event and the Commissioner. The aim of the session will be to give a new impetus to the implementation of the Charter, by increasing the number of cities signing the document.

In the afternoon, existing supporting initiatives at national and regional levels will be presented in view of pooling different resources together, to support the local and regional projects.

To finish, a discussion will take place among stakeholders to identify gaps in our knowledge as to the effectiveness of investments in ICT to serve sustainability goals and how the benefits can be reliably measured.

3. Smart Metering

In 2009, smart metering became a hot topic: references to smart metering were included in several legislative acts, namely in the Internal Market package, which stipulates that 80% of European households should be equipped with smart meters by 2020. At the same time many pilot projects have been designed and launched, and new products and players have come to the market. Some large-scale experiences with smart metering exist already in some Member States and lessons can be learned from these.

In order to maximize the benefits resulting from the deployment of smart metering, the EU needs a comprehensive policy taking into account several factors, such as the achievement of the Internal Energy Market, the 2020 climate and energy goals, the role of energy and ICT into economic recovery, etc.

The need for new developments concerning, technology, standardization, including the definition of minimum functionalities, regulatory incentives and integration of smart metering into smart systems will be addressed at this session.

Award ceremony

The Best ICT for Energy Efficiency Project Award

The prize will be delivered by:
• Livio Gallo,CEO, Infrastructure and Networks Division, ENEL
• Henrik Rasmussen, Head of EMEA Industries, SAP AG

The aim of the competition is to promote innovation in ICT which will contribute to substantial and measurable improvements in energy efficiency, and have the potential to provide visible and convincing showcases for investment by business, citizens or both.

The Best ICT4EE Project Award competition was open to all publicly funded research and technological development projects that involve one or more participants having research and/or business interests in each of the ICT and energy domains. The winner/winners will receive the € 20.000 grand prize directly from the two companies sponsoring the award: ENEL and SAP AG.

Day 2: Wednesday 24th February 2010

Demonstrating progress and the way forward

Three parallel technical sessions will occur on the second day giving an holistic view of the main technological challenges for the ICT sector in what concerns its contribution for sustainable growth:

4. Smart buildings

Buildings account for approximately 40% of energy end-use in the EU of which more than 50% is electrical power. The sector has significant untapped potential for cost-effective energy savings which, if realised, would mean an 11% reduction in total energy consumption in the EU by 2020.

The EC Recommendation asks for a closer cooperation between the ICT sector and buildings and construction sector to improve the environmental and energy performance of new and existing buildings, and to address the existing barriers to the wider use of ICT modelling and simulation tools and other relevant applications.

Recently, a political agreement was reached on the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the energy performance in buildings (recast), where the ICT sector has a significant role. The new directive foresees the obligation for the MS to introduce intelligent metering systems, and also recommends that the Member States can encourage the installation of active control systems such as automation, control and monitoring systems that aim to save energy.

The session will present experiences of key players in the concerned sectors, examples of working together between the ICT sector and the buildings sectors will identify new challenges, new business opportunities and the way forward.

5. Transport Logistics and Full Electric Vehicles

5.1. Transport Logistics

ICT-enabled logistics which are widely used in supply chain management and transport of goods, play a leading role in the optimization of operations and services; thus, they are likely to lead to important improvements in energy efficiency and to mitigation of environmental impacts of these industrial sectors.

The session will offer a chance to outline early evidence of measured and reported impacts on energy efficiency and carbon footprint, which are delivered by ICT-enabled logistics. The emphasis will be on ICT-led freight transport operations from journey savings and route optimisation to vehicle improvements, co-modality and provision of incentives for eco-driving styles, taking account of constraints of the wider logistics chain from production and storage to distribution. Examples from operational approaches which could constitute promising business cases reconciling cost-effectiveness, energy savings and emissions reduction, will be demonstrated.

The session will provide an opportunity for logistics and transport stakeholders to discuss a set of possible actions with the aim, among others, to enhance measurability and reporting of energy efficiency and carbon footprints and to improve user information. The net benefits would be better product life cycle assessment, enhanced visibility of best practices and increased corporate social responsibility.

5.2. Full Electric Vehicles and the Infrastructure

ICT solutions are expected to play a very important role in the deployment and integration of the Full Electric Vehicle (FEV) in the transportation infrastructure. From trip planning to optimizing the charging process, there is room for energy efficiency improvements. in the adoption of the FEV by the general public as an important means of transportation, especially in urban areas.

The session will offer an outline of the ICT requirements for the efficient integration of FEVs, i.e. mainly during navigation and charging. It addresses all the players involved, the driver, the car manufacturers, the energy suppliers as well as the vehicle itself. It covers the different processes, from energy management in the navigation of FEVs between available charging stations to the charging protocols, including the requirements of the electric grid and its stations.

The session will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to discuss these issues and possible actions to improve the navigation, charging procedures and other aspects of the integration of FEVs in today's transportation infrastructure

6. Smart grids: Infrastructure and New Business Models

6.1. Infrastructural and regulatory challenges

The need to meet the 2020 targets, and to increasing amounts of renewable sources used in the production of electricity, the aging of infrastructures, and the need to guarantee adequate levels of the security of supply imply a drastic transformation of electricity networks in Europe.

The European grids have to migrate from being passive networks with mono-directional flows of energy into “active and intelligent networks” allowing bi-directional flows of power and information among all users (Producers, suppliers, TSOs, DSOs, ESCOs and consumers).

This implies profound architectural and technical changes and the need to increase the research of innovative technologies. This huge transformation and effort is especially complex at the level of the distribution networks due to their size, structural complexity and to the need to integrate distributed generation.

This session will focus on identifying and quantifying specific engineering challenges sector but also regulatory challenges namely:

- How to improve the flexibility and robustness of the ageing electric systems?

- How to improve interoperability and monitoring of the distribution networks and manage outage issues?

- Which modern control technologies are needed at distribution system level to improve network stability? What are the main challenges at decentralised level?

- Which regulatory frameworks need to be harmonised and which standards are needed for better integration of devices?

- What efforts are needed to improve coordination between transmission and distribution systems and reduce network losses?

6.2 New Business Models.

The purpose of this session is to show and make the case for new business models and new energy services that the smart grids of the future will enable, such as:

- Virtual power plants which are a combination of small, distributed power stations, like CHP, photovoltaic systems, wind farms, small hydropower plants and biogas units. Those power stations maybe be owned by final customers who bring together their assets and will more and more actively intervene in wholesale markets.

- Micro grids which are medium-low voltage networks with DG sources, together with local storage devices and controllable loads (e.g. water heaters and air-conditioning). The main feature of microgrids is that, although they operate mostly connected to the distribution network, they can be automatically transferred to islanded mode in case of faults in the upstream network. Micro grids have sufficient generation and storage resources and therefore they can also actively participate in the energy markets by selling electricity or by entering into demand management agreements.

- New energy services. The implementation of smart grids and the availability of more and more accurate information to all market participants will open new business opportunities for energy services companies (ESCOs) not only in terms of traditional energy efficient services, but also innovative ones related to demand management. Clients will be offered the possibility of signing flexible supply contracts for lower prices, e.g. giving the ESCO company the possibility of partially cutting their consumption at peak periods. The ESCO will aggregate those individual contracts and become an active player in the wholesale market.

For all these different business models and services to be wide spread some challenges still have to be tackled namely at technological and regulatory level, such as: the improvement of communications, grid integration, improvement of monitoring, network planning and management and incentives to aggregation.

Closing Plenary

The conference will be closed by:

Florin Lupescu, Director for ICT Addressing Societal Challenges, DG Information, Society and Media, European Commission