Institutional construction is a strong backing for the ubiquitous power Internet of Things

In recent years, policies and systems related to the Internet of Things have been introduced one after another to guide the orderly and healthy development of the Internet of Things industry. The construction of the ubiquitous power Internet of Things can be said to be the implementation of various policies and systems of the Internet of Things in the power sector. It not only conforms to the top-level design spirit of the Internet of Things, but also reflects the development characteristics and laws of the power industry itself.

It has been ten years since the rise of the Internet of Things in China. In the next decade, the Internet of Things will be further deeply integrated with thousands of industries in the national economy, and the proposal of ubiquitous power Internet of Things provides a guarantee for the deep integration of the Internet of Things and the power industry.

Clarify the positioning of new infrastructure

Leveraging the IoT multiplier effect

In December 2018, the Central Economic Work Conference proposed to "strengthen the construction of new infrastructure such as artificial intelligence, industrial Internet, and Internet of Things", and the Internet of Things has a new positioning as a new infrastructure. Infrastructure is not only the effect brought by the project itself, but also has a significant multiplier effect. In the construction of Internet of Things infrastructure, not only direct investment is formed in optical fiber and cable, communication equipment, power supply equipment, and air conditioning equipment, but also these infrastructures will directly drive indirect investment in mobile phones, smart hardware, industry terminals, government and enterprise applications, etc. after they are built, further promoting upstream industry shipments, employment, and the formation of new economic forms and business models based on these infrastructures.

The ubiquitous power Internet of Things has typical characteristics of new infrastructure at multiple levels, which are mainly reflected in basic support and internal and external business. In terms of basic support, the ubiquitous power Internet of Things will "build a data middle platform with unified standards and unified models to achieve comprehensive support for power grid business and emerging business" in the future. This goal is to form the underlying foundation for a wide range of power-related businesses to a large extent. In terms of internal and external business, since power facilities themselves are the infrastructure of all walks of life in the national economy, in the construction of the ubiquitous power Internet of Things, through digital business collaboration and process integration and the construction of a unified smart energy service platform, it will further bring greater convenience to the power grid's own business and the electricity-related business of the whole society, and support the digital transformation of all walks of life.

As Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, said: "Leave responsibility to yourself and leave simplicity to customers". Unified standards, data middle platform, digital collaboration, smart energy platform, etc. are precisely through infrastructure construction to simplify and intelligentize complex problems. The power industry's investment in these areas will definitely bring chain investments and benefits to multiple industries in the national economy. From this perspective, the ubiquitous power Internet of Things is the implementation of the new Internet of Things infrastructure construction proposed by the central government.

Connect with national IoT planning

Accelerate the deep integration of the Internet of Things and the power industry

Along with the development of the Internet of Things industry, the state has introduced various supportive policies and systems for the Internet of Things. For example, in February 2013, the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Orderly and Healthy Development of the Internet of Things"; in September 2013, 14 ministries and commissions including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, and the National Standards Committee formulated and issued 10 special action plans for the development of the Internet of Things (Fagai Gaoji [2013] No. 1718).

However, in the past decade, the IoT-related policies and systems have focused more on the construction of horizontal fields in the IoT industry chain, and the vertical fields of the national economy have rarely spontaneously issued relevant policies and systems. As a result, although the entire IoT industry system has been established in the past decade, the integration with the vertical fields is not deep enough. The IoT is not an independent industry. It needs to empower all walks of life in the national economy to have meaning. However, many industries have a history of decades or even hundreds of years, with their own development laws and various complex interest relationships. The decision-making cycle and project cycle are very long, and it is not easy for new technologies to penetrate them on a large scale. Therefore, it is particularly important for all industries to actively embrace the IoT. The next decade should be a period for vertical industries to take the initiative.

The ubiquitous power Internet of Things proposed by State Grid can be seen as the power industry's spontaneous and proactive introduction of policies and systems for integration with the Internet of Things. At present, the technologies and business models of various links in the industrial chain such as IoT chips, modules, communications, platforms, and edge computing have matured. If there is active policy support from each industry itself, the speed of IoT implementation in this industry will be further accelerated. The ubiquitous power Internet of Things carries the task of large-scale demonstration of the Internet of Things in vertical industries to a large extent, and it is just the right time for State Grid to launch a construction plan in this field.

Clarify development strategy and direction

Ensure the implementation of multiple safeguards

The ubiquitous power Internet of Things is not only related to the future development path of power industry enterprises, but also to the national economy and people's livelihood, so corresponding institutional guarantees are indispensable. Among the guarantee measures, the author recommends focusing on the following three aspects:

1. Technological innovation and industrial ecology go hand in hand. The ubiquitous power Internet of Things needs to further adopt an open mindset. On the one hand, it should fully absorb external cutting-edge Internet of Things technologies and innovate in combination with the characteristics of the power industry. In the field of external services, it can consider drawing on mature experience, building a developer community, and attracting third-party developers to gather on the power Internet of Things platform; on the other hand, it should make every effort to develop the industrial ecology, collaborate with various professional service companies, give full play to their knowledge, experience and resource advantages in their respective fields, and form heavyweight industry applications.

2. Integration of top-level design and industry policies. In the process of promoting the ubiquitous power Internet of Things, attention should be paid to the coordination with the country's top-level design planning and policies for the entire Internet of Things, and become an organic part of the national Internet of Things top-level design; pay close attention to the latest policies and requirements issued by the central government and various ministries and commissions for the Internet of Things, especially the common parts of various Internet of Things policies. In the promotion of the ubiquitous power Internet of Things, it is necessary to absorb the results of the common parts, meet the requirements of the common parts, and promote the improvement of the common parts, so as to ensure that the ubiquitous power Internet of Things forms a typical demonstration effect in the national Internet of Things.

3. Development speed and safety and reliability are coordinated. The construction of the ubiquitous power Internet of Things is bound to affect thousands of industries, and its industrial impact is huge. If the development is too slow, it cannot meet the digital transformation needs of various industries, and if the development is too fast, a series of security issues may arise. Therefore, in the process of building the ubiquitous power Internet of Things, it is necessary to balance the relationship between speed and security. On the one hand, the security protection level of the ubiquitous power Internet of Things itself should be improved; on the other hand, in this process, attention should be paid to data sovereignty and prevent information leakage. During this period, relevant policies and regulations should play a coordinating role. While creating conditions for the construction of the ubiquitous power Internet of Things, a standardized regulatory framework should be established to prevent various risks and play a role in technological innovation on the basis of ensuring safety.

(The authors work at the Internet of Things Think Tank, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, and Beijing Information Science and Technology University respectively)