The 4th edition of ISGF’s Annual Conference and Exhibition – Distribution Utility Meet (DUM 2020) will be held from 27 – 28 November 2020 on a digital platform this year.
DUM 2020 is supported by Ministry of Power (MoP), Govt of India (GoI). It will be hosted by BSES Yamuna, BSES Rajdhani, Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited and Tata Power Company Limited, Mumbai.
DUM 2020 will provide a unique platform for the DISCOM community to share each other’s experiences in dealing with COVID-19 challenges and efforts towards fast track automation and digitalization. As the world is struggling to cope with the new-normal and preparing for the next-normal, it is imperative that utilities do not make the same mistakes but learn from each other’s experiences and also bring global expertise and experiences to India. Experts from leading Utilities and experts from USA, Europe, Japan, Bangladesh and Srilanka will participate in DUM 2020 and share their experiences.
RK Singh, Minister for Power, MNRE and Skill Development, is invited to inaugurate the event. Other eminent speakers invited during the inauguration of DUM 2020 will be SN Sahai, Secretary, Ministry of Power; Karen Klimowski, Indo Pacific Coordinator & Acting Deputy Director, USAID /India; Kapil Mohan, Principal Secretary – Energy, Karnataka; Anshu Bhardwaj, CEO, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation; Akash Tripathi, Managing Director of MP Power Management Company and Secretary, Energy, Govt of MP & Chairman of MPKVVCL and Ganesh Srinivasan, CEO, TPDDL.
ISGF has been spearheading the movement towards digitalization of utilities in India. Although the actual implementation in many utilities may still be not be significant, there is already a unanimous voice for taking this journey to full digitalization. In the aftermath of COVID-19, digital platforms have become the coveted assets for utilities in their business continuity and resiliency. Government of India is about to launch a new program that is going to mandate smart meters for all the 250 million+ electricity customers in the country. Besides smart metering, utilities are expected to leverage digital platforms for many of their operations. All these new initiatives towards digitalization which in the business as usual scenario in the pre-COVID world would have taken well over a decade are now going to happen in the next 2-3 years on fast track. This is going to create data driven smart utilities which will open up new business opportunities for organizations providing tools and services to host and manage the enormous amounts of data utilities are expected to generate in the coming days.
The key themes of DUM 2020 are digitalization in DISCOMs; policies and regulations for the digital DISCOMs; DISCOM privatization plan; DISCOMs after COVID-19; and 250 million smart meters. DUM 2020 will also have a Plenary Session on New Revenue Opportunities for DISCOMs. United States Agency for International Development (USAID), New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) – JAPAN, The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Florence School of Regulation (FSR) and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) have joined DUM 2020 as Knowledge Partners. DUM 2020 will have the Projects and Technology showcase by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Accenture, BSES Yamuna; BSES Rajdhani; Tata Power – DDL; and Tata Power Company Ltd, Mumbai; S&C; isMobile; Schnider and many other DISCOMs and Technology Companies.
