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Data Breaches Cost More Than $4 Million Per Incident, Power Industry at High Risk

July 28, 2021

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IBM Security reported on July 28 that the average cost of recent data breaches was $ 4.24 million per incident, the highest cost ever recorded by the company in 17 years of tracking the metric. Notably, data breaches in the U.S. were by far the costliest, exceeding $ 9 million per incident on average.

The findings were among several insights exposed through a global study of data breaches conducted by the independent Ponemon Institute, a analysis group known for its empirical studies. Researchers reviewed data breaches experienced by 537 organizations between May 2020 and March 2021. The incidents occurred in 17 countries and across various industries.

“We see the number, in general, tick up across the years—some years a little bit higher, some years a little lower—but in general, the trend has been the numbers increase over time,” IBM Cyber Threat Intelligence Expert Charles DeBeck told POWER during an exclusive interview.…

The POWER Interview: AI, Big Data, and Efficiency

February 8, 2021

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The increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in the power generation sector has a goal of making electricity production both more efficient, and secure. Developing ways to more quickly analyze ever-larger amounts of data is driving innovation among those people responsible for the operation of power plants and generation equipment.

Many companies are involved in the research and development of technologies to support AI and ML. Beyond Limits, a California company launched in 2014, works in several markets, from energy—including the power generation and oil and gas exploration sectors—to manufacturing and industrial, as well as healthcare. The company says, “Our mission is to create automated solutions with human-like powers of reasoning that amplify the talents and capabilities of people. We specialize in complex challenges in extreme environments.”

Stephen Kwan, the company’s director of product management for Power Generation/Grid Management, provided POWER with his insight into AI and ML as it applies to the electricity sector, with a look at what the future holds as the power generation landscape continues to change.…

Digital Applications, Data, and the Microgrid User Experience

October 19, 2020

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EnTech Solutions, a sister company of Faith Technologies, was created to provide renewable, resilient energy solutions that enable its partners to control energy costs and reliability and minimize their environmental impact. EnTech utilizes microgrids that leverage proprietary power control hardware, energy management software, energy storage and other distributed energy resources (DERs) to consistently deliver high-value, reliable electricity. These systems are designed by taking a customer’s energy needs into consideration during planning and commissioning to ensure EnTech can provide absolute value for each system installed.

Traditionally, sources of renewable energy have been managed locally at their physical locations. When a company deployed a microgrid, technicians would need to be at its location to adjust settings or perform updates.

Microgrids are a focus of POWER’s virtual Distributed Energy Experience, scheduled for Oct. 19-22. The event moved online when the in-person Distributed Energy Conference was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Big Data: The New Age of ‘Fortune Telling’ Requires Human Collaboration More Than Ever

June 24, 2020

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Ancient Chinese fortune tellers used heated metal pokers to create cracks in bones or empty turtle shells. By reading the patterns in the cracks, they attempted to calm the unease that comes with the innate uncertainty of the world—especially the ancient world. They predicted the future and doled out advice that affected the fate and fortunes of states and their people.

Thousands of years have passed since the earliest fortunes were told, but despite scientific and technological advances, the uncertainty that underpinned ancient fortune telling is, stubbornly, still with us. In 2020, sophisticated modern analytics have raised the bar on predictive precision, but they have not removed (or even reduced) risk and uncertainty from our decision-making. Just like with cracks, people don’t trust the algorithms and technical solutions to make decisions on their own. There needs to be room for the human who reads the cracks.…

The POWER Interview: What Is Big Data?

December 22, 2019

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The term “Big Data” is used frequently by tech-savvy power industry professionals, but what does it really mean. To get an insider’s perspective, POWER posed the question to Akshay Patwal, strategic business manager with Siemens Energy. Patwal leads the development and commercialization of digital business transformation projects, using big data platforms and analytics to create data-driven services, so he has a wealth of knowledge on the subject.

Akshay Patwal is strategic business manager with Siemens Energy. Courtesy: Siemens

POWER: What does Big Data mean to you?

Patwal: Big data in power generation refers to the large amounts of data being obtained from various sources in the power plant. The magnitude we are looking at here would be in terabytes of data or even more. The big data has the following characteristics:

A huge volume of data is expected and so would be the storage space needed for it.

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