Robin Chase: Make it OPEN!!!

This posted to smartgrid@ostp.gov by Robin Chase

We want to build a smart grid that will serve us for the next 20-50 years. I strongly support the calls for maximizing openness, with the rationale in point 2 below. An angle that has not yet been brought forward is the tie in with impending "smart transportation," something I know about as founding CEO of Zipcar, and currently on the US Dept of Transportation Intelligent Transportation Systems Advisory Committee.

1. With respect to the future of transportation technology, internet protocols and the openness of devices and spectrum will be critical to enabling the lowest cost path of data connectivity between the two sectors. While some smart grid thinking has focused on the technology requirements for vehicles to feed into and from the new smart grid, we also need to take into account technology requirements that will be placed on all vehicles for open-road tolling, congestion pricing, parking payment, pay-as-you-drive insurance, etc. The US government and drivers will be making significant investments in technology over the exact same time period as we invest in the smart grid. I think the order of magnitude of investments is likely in the same dollar range.

We need to take a whole systems approach, which isn't really that difficult since all this data boils down to the same fundamental 1s and 0s being transmitted. Consumers of electricity and transportation are going to want to minimize their device procurement and maximize the connectivity possible between all aspects of their life.

Here are URLs for two articles (one written about my ideas and one written by me) about the connection between the smart grid and smart transportation. http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/05/the-grid-our-cars-and-the-internet-one-idea-to-link-them-all/ AND http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robin-chase/tax-for-driving-an-econom_b_170193.html

2. A case for openness follows if we look at current technology trends:
high pace of change
fast device evolution and obsolesce, particularly pronounced in the consumer end
devices increasingly multi-purposed and not confined to verticals of data
open APIs and open data enable data and applications are gainfully used in unexpected ways and across sectors
an inevitable electric grid tie with vehicles and transportation sector, which is itself investing heavily in wireless technologies
rise of software-defined and cognitive radios pointing to a future of data transmission and devices that is not constrained to one part of the spectrum
eventual “internet of things” where wireless communication will be pervasive.

It therefore seems very clear that we need to do everything we can to enable and facilitate the ability of the smart grid networks and devices to evolve over time, and in ways unknowable at this juncture. Our investments will be best protected by requiring internet protocols, open standards, open devices, and not mandating any particular communications path. And yes, figuring out what open data might mean in the context of addressing privacy (answerable by another question).

Instead the government should mandate what form the information is communicated and at what intervals, and then let markets, devices, communication network choices evolve over time choosing the best fit for individual circumstances.