Successful kick-off for new Annex XVIII
Forty-two participants from ten different countries participated in a webinar launching the first Task in the new Annex XVIII – Digitalization, Artificial Intelligence and Related Technologies for Energy Efficiency and GHG Emissions Reduction in Industry. The participants, already involved in the work or interested in joining, represent different types of organizations – industry, academia and government.
The objective of this Annex is to stimulate the adoption and digitalization technologies for energy efficiency improvement and GHG emissions reduction in the process industries. To achieve this objective, the Annex sub-goals are:
- To create an international network and information infrastructure for stakeholders to exchange knowledge in the area of digitalization technologies
- To facilitate joint development of new knowledge and expertise on digitalization
- To support and accelerate the deployment of digitalization practises in the energy-intensive process industries.
The countries participating in this Annex will have enhanced capability and understanding of good practice in digitalization technologies in the specific context of process industry energy efficiency and GHG emissions reduction. They will increase knowledge about the implications of industrial digitalization from improved productivity and energy and environment perspectives in the process industry. They will have the connections to be able to drive better decisions in the domain.
For Task 1 – Assessment Studies, the main value for organizations to participate is:
- Familiarization with the field of Big Data and Data Analytics broadly, understanding the actors and the opportunity for industry.
- Becoming aware of the needs and the actions envisioned to help support energy-intensive process sectors.
- Influencing the direction of future tasks in the Annex.
Testimonials post-webinar
What are your feelings after this first meeting?
‘‘ The number of participants and the diversity of the different organizations show a general interest in the Annex subject. The presentations made by panelists from very different horizons (private companies, universities and research centres) showed similar understanding and interests on digitalization and related technologies. The need to share knowledge and to increase collaboration were also raised and identified as critical factors in order to succeed in implementing digitalization in the industry to reduce energy consumption and GHG’’ says Task 1 Manager Paul Stuart.
How will your work contribute to meeting the climate goals?
‘‘Energy-intensive processes today can incorporate sophisticated data management systems, which capture process data across the supply chain for business decisions, as well as at the process level for quality, control and automation purposes. This dataset is possibly the foundation of an opportunity to identify new strategies for achieving radical GHG mitigation as global warming increasingly takes hold – related to increased efficiency and improved competitiveness. This application of Big Data and digitalization to achieve GHG emissions reduction will be further driven by new policy instruments and carbon pricing, new types of primary energy, managing energy cost volatility, etc.’’
‘‘Our plan for 2019 is to confirm the interest of countries to participate in Annex, to work on Task 1 or to propose new tasks’’, says Paul Stuart. ‘‘In the first year, we would also like to organize quarterly meetings looking at different aspects of the Task 1. For example, in March 2019, technical issues related to digitalization will be addressed. In June 2019, country experts should be identified and integrated. The second part of the year will be used to refine technical outcomes and messages and identify common interests and subsequent tasks’’
It is always possible to join this Annex. Moreover, it is not necessary to wait for the end of the first task (Assessment studies) to propose new tasks to the Annex. In the case that you are interested to join, please communicate with the Annex Manager, Mouloud Amazouz.
Email: mouloud.amazouz@canada.ca
Phone: +1-450-652-6809