ETSC - Energy Information Technology Infrastructure

Enterprise Transformation Solutions for Change (ETSC)
An Obama-Biden Transition Project

Information Architecture For Energy Technology Transformation 01/19/2009
White Paper

Felicia Y. Sweet
ETSC Committee
01/19/2009


Information Architecture for the Energy Industry

Decision makers within large enterprises face a common problem of
information inconsistency. A for-profit executive for example receives
quarterly sales total figures but unfortunately, the finance, sales and
marketing departments each calculate sales differently and each reports
a different number. This information inconsistency is costly within
commercial enterprises and deadly within the medical industry,
resulting in medical errors. Within the energy industry such
inconsistency is at least wasteful and may result in loss of life and
equipment. The root cause of this information inconsistency is the lack
of a common vocabulary. There is no agreement on terms and their
definitions.

Creating a standard vocabulary within a large enterprise is fundamental
but surprisingly difficult. Over time enterprises develop their own
culture and language. This enterprise language has different terms in
different parts of the enterprise, or more pernicious, the same term
used and defined differently. There is a growing understanding of the
value of a common vocabulary within the energy industry and elsewhere.
The GridWise Energy Industry Architecture, in co-operation with
the US. Department of Energy for example, is beginning to confront this
problem. A component of the GridWise initiative and a necessary enabler
of data communication between devices on the energy grid is a proposed
Common Information Model (CIM). The CIM is a single, standard,
enterprise vocabulary of terms that all energy grid components will
share. Data is sent and received between energy components in CIM
format.

Proponents and consumers of the CIM should not expect however, that a
single Common Information Model will suffice. New software applications
connected to the grid will communicate using the terms within the CIM.
However, older, legacy components will be incapable of communicating
using new CIM terms. It will be cost prohibitive to upgrade most legacy
applications and components to speak in CIM terms. Therefore a way must
be built into the process to accommodate the vocabulary of legacy
applications along side the new CIM terms. There is a growing
realization withing the discipline of information architecture that it
is overly optimistic to assume that a large enterprise can have only a
single Common Information Model. This is certainly the case for an
entire industry as large and complex as energy.

The emerging information architecture practice calls for a Hierarchical
Community of Interest (COI) Information Model. Under this approach a
single central CIM is still specified. In addition, local Community of
Interest (COI) Information Models are developed. A COI is a set of
systems belonging to a particular business function that uses a
specific vocabulary. The financial systems within a company may
be considered a COI. Once the central CIM and local COI Information
models are developed, automated translations between the two models are
created. Under this approach, all components can communicate using the
CIM. Newer applications use the CIM directly, legacy applications use
the CIM indirectly through a translator from their local COI
Information model.

Under the COI approach, the COI Information Model is mapped or
translated to the central CIM. Legacy systems use their native
vocabulary until they retire. Over time the industry gradually evolves
to the CIM. As this slow evolution takes place, terms are standardized
to a specified and limited set of vocabularies. This avoids the
potential disruption and expense of converting thousands of legacy
systems to a single CIM.

Figure 1 shows the COI approach in graphical terms. There are several
energy grid Communities of Interests (COI) around classes of
components. Legacy components understand a legacy COI Information
Model. The new energy industry standard Common Information Model
communicates with legacy components through an automated translation
layer. The figure shows translation of different terms for a fuse.
Modern energy grid components communicate using the Common Information
Model directly.

Figure 1

In practical terms the COI approach is necessary to scale adoption of a
common vocabulary to the enterprise and industry level. In
addition, industry experience shows that attempting to force all
enterprise communities to a single information model results in each
community modifying the Common Information Model to their needs. The
outcome of this process is the effective non-existence of a Common
Information Model.

Adoption of a standard vocabulary is a critical technology issue that
will require policy leadership. Identification and support for of a
limited number of energy Communities of Interest is as important as the
single energy Common Information Model already under discussion.
It is critical that Department of Energy or the White House exercise
leadership to establish the best practices in vocabulary
standardization for the energy industry at large.



Contact:
Felicia Y. Sweet
11770 Sunrise Valley Drive
#117
Reston, VA. 20191
(703) 965-4437
http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/EnterpriseTransformationSolutionsforChan
http://etschange.org/home.html
feliciaysweet@etschange.org