Digital technology has the potential to
radically reshape the way we generate,
trade and consume energy. Over the past
decade, the incorporation of information
and communications technology into
the energy system has emerged as a
significant driver of change in the sector
but the pace and scale of that change is
likely to increase dramatically over the
decades to come.
This Briefing Paper investigates the key
technologies that underpin the digitisation of
energy and examines their potential impacts. The
overarching objective of the paper is to understand
the effects new technologies will have on the
current energy system, the new challenges they
will pose, and the policies and regulatory measures
which will assist in making them a success.
Specifically, this paper considers four technological
areas of digitalisation: big data; machine learning
and AI; the Internet of things; and distributed
ledger technology, often referred to as blockchain.