This piece was originally published in the November 2018 issue of electroindustry.

Brian Marchionini, PMP, Senior Program Manager, NEMA

With the assistance of NEMA and other industry leaders, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is updating its Smart Grid Interoperability Framework to advance grid modernization. The Interoperability Framework, developed and periodically revised in strong collaboration with the broad smart grid stakeholder community, has played a key role in grid transformation by guiding discussion, planning, and deployment of emerging smart grid technologies.

Through November 2018, NIST will convene four regional workshops to explore the most important ideas in the latest version of the Interoperability Framework. These workshops have been organized for the Northeast, Midwest, West, and Southeast. These workshops will focus on grid operations and economics. Individual meetings will examine a conceptual model relevant to each region, followed by a panel of local stakeholders, and a discussion with all attendees regarding interoperability and the most important technological interfaces to grid modernization.

NEMA Members can use these sessions to understand the role interoperability will have in shaping today’s complex electricity ecosystem.

For more information on the workshops, visit the NIST website (https://www.nist.gov/engineering-laboratory/smart-grid/smart-grid-interoperability-framework-workshops).