Digital futures advisory panel
Digital futures advisory panel
The digital futures advisory panel supports the delivery of our data strategy, digitalisation strategy and the cyber resilience plan. The panel is made up of academics and representatives from IT/technology groups and regional businesses.
Role of the panel
The primary role of the panel is to help shape the delivery of our digitalisation and data strategies and commitments. It brings together regional and national stakeholders to support our understanding of our stakeholders’ needs and the digital products and services required to meet those needs, with the ultimate goal of creating benefits for consumers.
This is not specifically about our internal systems rollout, but about the digitalisation of the network, availability of data and how our network affects our stakeholders’ plans and collaborating in a digital space.
The panel is made up of independent experts representing a range of stakeholders, who provide advice, guidance and challenge on how to improve and keep delivering the best service to our customers and fulfil our ‘licence-to-operate’ with the communities we serve.
The panel meets quarterly either in person or online. It’s led by an independent chair, Stephen Steer, and attended by external panel members and senior leaders from SP ENW to ensure a direct link to the business. The company also provides secretariat support to record actions and outcomes from the panel meetings.
Objectives
- To ensure customer and stakeholder engagement is helping to shape the delivery of our digitalisation and data products, services, strategies and commitments
- To provide advance and input, helping SP ENW balance the need for open and transparent data versus the need to be security aware and be protective of critical national infrastructure
- To act as a critical friend: understanding challenges, expressing views about key issues and priorities, advising and co-creating policies and implementation approaches
- To identify opportunities for regional and national collaboration and best-practice sharing
- To act as an advocate for SP ENW, our customers and stakeholders.
Meet our panel chair, Steven Steer
Steven works at Zuhlke, a Swiss digital and data engineering consultancy; he was formally Ofgem’s inaugural Head of Data. Steven’s contributions to digitalisation include:
- Overseeing government’s Energy Data Taskforce on behalf of Ofgem
- Authoring government’s first energy digitalisation strategy and action plan
- Establishing Ofgem's regulatory environment for treating energy industry data as 'presumed open’ for sharing by creating the Data Best Practice regulation
- Designing a sector-wide architecture governance solution for government and the energy system operator to gain technical co-ordination across energy digitalisation.
Steven provides data and AI innovation services across multiple economic sectors. He has worked in academia producing research findings; in government creating policy and; delivering data and analytics services directly in energy and oncology companies. He has a PhD in fundamental nuclear physics and is a former member of the University of Cambridge Energy Policy Research Group. His academic career includes 70+ credited publications, which have earned him an academic h-index of 29.
Find out more
If you would like to find out more about the work of any of our advisory panels, please get in touch.