Jeroen Boon: So I think, especially there, what we see in these conversations is that a lot of organisations have ambitions, have visions. So they set, for instance, the grid of the future or the grid of tomorrow, where they’re really focusing on driving change into the grid. And especially there, if you talk about the challenges, I think a few of the key things there is, of course, the congestion of it, organisations not being able to actually get the power they actually need to do the efforts or have a very long time span for that. And part of that, we see that with not just now the already high load demand, but we see that there’s more and more coming, more requests coming, more load demands coming, for instance, from data centres, which are really driving the demands there. So we really see that especially all these things require a change from the asset-heavy background where the organisations are coming from to a still asset-heavy background, but with new technologies and new dimensions to what they’re doing. So I think those are a few of the key challenges we’re discussing. It’s not just what is there now, but especially what should be there in the future.

So I think especially there with the change that is needed, also efficiency improvement have to be made. And efficiency improvements come in different forms. And for instance, dynamic line ratings allow you to really make sure that congestion is alleviated. If you look at the different technologies which are there allows also a bit more of a different approach to the current way of actually working and a different approach to the asset-heavy industry which is there. So it allows you to have less inertia. It allows you to have bi-directional power flows. And all these things really add into not only working on the grid of the future, but also being able that the asset-heavy industry and everything that is already there is utilised to the max potential. And I think that is one of the key things why we hear a lot of organisations trying to light the candle from two sides, both focusing on improving what they already have, but also focus on what’s out there, what we can really improve. And I think DLR, also topics like DERMS, for instance, are ways of really utilising everything they’ve got already to the max potential.

And I think that is one of the main things why this is on almost everybody’s agenda, and making sure that these things are not just in the agenda, but also becoming a reality also through the regulatory bodies and the groups which are there to improve this.

So I think it just dictates day to day, basically, what is happening in the world. It kind of dictates the conversation. Even though the visions and the ambitions are there and they’re installed, or they’re placed, or the stakeholders agreed on them, but separate from that, with just these day-to-day changes which are happening, some things are coming into more attention, or the need for it actually raises as well. And especially here today at the Future of Utilities Forum, one of the key things which a lot of organisations are actually mentioning is we need to do this. We need to build more resilience because we don’t know what is coming our way. So predicting what tomorrow will bring or what two days will bring or even what months or years will bring, especially if you have to invest for more than seven years into building something new, it’s just very difficult in this time. Nobody has the glass ball to say this is going to happen, or this is where we are in five or 10 years’ time.

And part of that, just day to day, the conversation therefore also changes, even though the ambitions stay the same, but the conversation changes based on where the urgency lays. And I think especially there with geopolitical tension being there, I think that will keep growing, or hopefully not. Hopefully, it will simmer down. But there’s just so much which can impact what utilities are doing. And that’s also one of the things innovation is asked for. Also here, innovation is asked for. Everybody says innovation is one of the ways out of the heavy congested market but also out of handling resilience. But then what does it specifically look like? And yeah, that is one of the key things that I think the geopolitical tension just moreover stipulates that you really need to innovate to get out of the situation where you’re too reliant or where you’re too… Well, if you’re working too much on the grid of yesterday rather than of the grid of tomorrow.

So there’s a lot happening in the world. So it really depends on the confidence level, the ability and willingness to actually take risks in this time and age as well. So there’s really a lot happening that is influencing decision-making. But one of the key things is there’s just so much information out there. There’s so much information you can gather. You can Google for it. You can utilise one of the AI tools for it. Information is quite easy to get. But getting information which really informs your decision-making, that challenges your thinking as well and if this is the right thing to actually spend your resources on and right decisions you’re making, that is one of the key things which a lot of the organisations we work with are continuously working on. And part of that, it’s not just the innovation decisions, it is also the stakeholders you’re working with because regulatory bodies, the stakeholders throughout the complete utility value chain, they all demand something as well. They demand new loads.

They demand different things. So that also dictates what innovations can you actually form and can’t you actually form? And I think that is a few of the key considerations which innovation leaders have to make, which is pretty challenging, to be honest, because it’s coming from so many different directions with so many different angles, with so many different changes. So there’s so much happening that it’s pretty difficult to get something like a decision assurance kind of thing in place because everything can be different tomorrow, or the value chain can demand something different based on the new project coming up.So that is, I think, a little bit of the challenging times, but also the fun thing in the sense that, hey, we’re really solving for one of the biggest problems out there, and we’re building innovation decisions now that will really build the future and enable the future as well.

If you look at these investments which they’re making, not just of the money side of things, but also the resources, the internal resources, the internal innovation capabilities which are there. What do you actually spend this on? And what I alleviated on in also the previous question is, there’s just so much happening. There’s so much coming your way. And what we really do is we help you cut through the hype, the hype of the key things happening. If you look at the demand growth of data centres, how will it actually pan out and what should you actually do for it? Are SMRs the right option for that now already, where some people are looking into it or not? If you look at other topics like, for instance, carbon capture, how does that still play a key role in everything that you’re doing as well? So there are so many different questions which are going around on the technology side of things, and we can really help on not just providing more inputs or more information, because there’s a lot out there, but really challenge your thinking on it and also validate your thinking.

So I think that is one of the key things which we typically do working with utility players. And one last thing I really want to add to that is innovation management in itself is also a bit of stakeholder management. It is internally, all the business units, but it’s also externally with all of the stakeholders which you’re working with. And there, it’s pretty difficult sometimes, being in innovation, having to call for things and having to ask for things which others might not have the KPIs for to actually deliver on or might not have the interest for. So it’s continuously fighting to get something done when it comes to innovation side of things. Even though everybody is willing to change, it is still very hard to establish that change. So also when it comes to innovation management and changing that approach, that’s also definitely one of the key things we as an organisation really love to help a lot of organisations with.