Cisco and IBM have announced they are teaming on a pilot to help the utility for the city of Amsterdam to make better use of energy by letting consumers make more informed decisions about their energy consumption. The pilot program is part of the Amsterdam Smart City initiative, in which citizens, governments, and companies are working together to make more efficient use of energy, water, and mobility. “Now that more than half of the global population lives in cities, we must acknowledge that achieving a sustainable future lies in our urban centers,” said Guido Bartels, General Manager of IBM’s Global Energy & Utilities industry.
US Department of Energy
The consortium will let home owners manage their energy use with “smart” metering and home-energy-management equipment, which will give 500 selected households insight to their energy consumption and possibly change how they use electricity.
The utility and IBM will develop energy-management software, making use of intelligent IT systems and well-protected web technology. Cisco will be responsible for the IP-based home energy software for real-time and secure connectivity between household appliances and the energy grid with the goal of improving efficiencies.
IBM and Cisco want to show how intelligence throughout the electrical grid can reduce outages and faults, improve responsiveness, handle current and future demand, increase efficiency, and manage costs.
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