dena is assisting in the establishment of the new data institute

Berlin, Germany, 19 February 2024. A solid data basis and infrastructure are essential for numerous applications in the increasingly digitalised, flexible energy system. Yet, it needs to be possible to share data at suitable points at the same time. This can create major economic opportunities that benefit the general public in the exchange of data within and between the stages of the value chain. Over the next two years, dena will be analysing the hurdles and potential of data exchange processes in the energy industry on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in the ‘Smart integration of decentralised plants’ use case for the energy domain in order to promote this. The results are intended to support the new data institute, which will be established by the German government. With the current coalition agreement, the German government has set itself the goal of increasing the potential of data utilisation in Germany. To this end, a data institute is to be created that can act as a contact point for various stakeholders, bundle interdisciplinary expertise, provide practical methodological expertise and develop proposals for solutions to challenges in the use of data, among other things.

‘We are delighted to be supporting the application-oriented development of the data institute with the implementation of the use case for the energy domain and at the same time to be able to further advance the digitalisation of the energy transition through this project. We at dena see our task in particular as bringing together the players in the energy industry, identifying existing good solutions and sharing knowledge and experience from the industry with the data institute,’ says Corinna Enders, Chairperson of the Management Board at dena.

Philipp Richard, Head of Digital Technologies & Startup Ecosystem at dena, adds that ‘with our mission, we will focus on the urgent task of ensuring fair data governance and a flourishing exchange of data.  We need the stakeholders to tell us what challenges, but also what solutions already exist to create a cross-industry data ecosystem that creates added value, and we invite you to join us now.’

Markus Richter, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Community, offers his praise: ‘It’s great that the establishment of the data institute is now entering the active phase. The commissioning of dena is an important step in order to gather the relevant experience for the orientation of the data institute by implementing the use cases and at the same time to contribute to such an important topic as the transformation of our energy networks. I am very excited to see what results we will see in the coming months.’

To this end, dena is working with the industry to set up a field trial in which existing data exchange processes in the energy industry are analysed and new options such as data sharing via data spaces are trialled. In this manner, dena can identify the real-world challenges of using and exchanging data in specific use cases. Secondly, the industry will be involved throughout the duration of the project via various formats such as surveys, stakeholder dialogues and workshops in order to gather experience and the technical, procedural, regulatory and economic requirements for the use of data.

In the eyes of Anna Christmann, the German government’s Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Startups, it indicates a major milestone for the data institute: ‘By commissioning dena, we are now getting started on developing the ‘Smart integration of decentralised plants’ use case for the energy domain. With the kick-off of the first use case, we are entering the next phase of development for the data institute, following the recommendations of the founding commission for an agile and demand-orientated approach. I am delighted that we are starting to implement the use case for the energy domain and can thus quickly derive initial empirical values for the implementation of further use cases and thus the future work of the data institute. At the same time, we are doing important groundwork for the digitalisation of the energy transition with this use case.’

This participatory approach also forms the start of the project: Representatives from the electricity sector, research, associations and civil society are asked to contribute their views in an initial survey on the status quo of the exchange of data in the energy industry and in turn provide information and food for thought on the design of Module 2 – Use case for the energy domain.

Please visit the following link: https://dena-dit.limesurvey.net/878955?lang=de to access the survey.

The knowledge from the field trial and industry consultation will be collected, organised, processed and published. The project not only provides important coordination work for the establishment of the data institute, but also for the development of data utilisation within the energy industry and beyond.

Please visit our website at https://future-energy-lab.de/projects/dateninstitut-domaene-energie/ for further information about the project.

 

About the German government’s data institute

With the current coalition agreement, the German government has set itself the goal of increasing the potential of data utilisation in Germany. To this end, a data institute is to be created that can act as a contact point for various stakeholders, bundle interdisciplinary expertise, provide practical methodological expertise and develop proposals for solutions to challenges in the use of data, among other things.  In addition to the use case for the energy domain, the post-Covid-19 use case and a third module for determining the legal and organisational framework conditions will also be launched this year. Please visit the BMI website at https://www.bmi.bund.de/DE/themen/it-und-digitalpolitik/it-des-bundes/dateninstitut/dateninstitut-node.html for further information on the data institute.