MISSION: Critical Infrastructure blogs by Dan Draughn Publish date: March 12, 2015
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Is critical infrastructure really critical? Published: October 13, 2014
Governments around the world have a different approach in defining critical infrastructure. The United State Critical infrastructure Protection Program was put in place in 1996, but efforts to identify and protect our critical infrastructure started well prior to that. Following 9/11, the U.S. formally defined critical infrastructure as: Critical infrastructure is the backbone of our nation’s economy, security and health. We know it as the power we use in our homes, the water we drink, the transportation that moves us, and the communication systems we rely on to stay in touch with friends and family. Critical infrastructure are the assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof. Source: http://www.dhs.gov/what-critical-infrastructure If you ask most Americans to define critical infrastructure, they would likely only be able to identify a few. I have been in the critical infrastructure industry for more 30 years, but my friends and family still struggle to understand what that means to them.
When you consider the combined positive impact to our quality of life of the critical infrastructure sectors listed in the graphic above, we shouldn’t be surprised at the potential risk related to maintenance, weather or disasters. Engineering and consulting firms see firsthand the effects of the convergence of technology and the interrelationship between critical infrastructure sectors. For example, consider the importance of restoring electricity, water, gas, and public safety and emergency services following a natural disaster like a tornado, hurricane, ice storm or earthquake. During 2014, we explored critical infrastructure from multiple perspectives. In 2015, I will be expanding those perspectives with input from multiple industry sources. In addition, we will engage in a discussion about the interdependence of multiple sectors, along with the role leadership has in developing the vision for the next generation of services as we build on past advancements. In summary, I believe that we can all agree that the critical infrastructure sectors are extremely important and we that are engaged in any or multiple sectors have a role in the quality of life of all Americans by improving the quality of the services we deliver.
In February 2013, President Obama issued a Presidential Policy Directive – Critical infrastructure Security and Resilience. This further expanded the commitment to protect critical infrastructure and identified critical infrastructure sectors.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
Contents Intro: Is critical infrastructure really critical? Next generation intelligent critical infrastructure solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Rise of the next generation consumer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 From energy consumer to energy portfolio manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Ulteig Extra - The impact of leadership on critical infrastructure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Ulteig Extra – Lessons from UTC Telecom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Ulteig Extra - Leadership critical to create a legacy for future generations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Developing long-view standards for future critical infrastructure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 What does Independence Day have to do with critical infrastructure? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Deeper reflections on the link between Independence Day and critical infrastructure. . . . . . 10 Mentoring critical infrastructure leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Leadership and disaster recovery is a hand-in-glove relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Mission critical communication leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 A new world for telecommunications in critical infrastructure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Reinventing critical infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Reinventing critical infrastructure - Part 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Transforming the grid: Managing multiple energy sources Reinventing critical infrastructure - Part 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Communications convergence: Ensuring systems can talk Reinventing critical infrastructure - Part 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Protecting physical and cyber infrastructure Reinventing critical infrastructure - Part 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Leveraging technology to reduce upgrade costs Keep your critical infrastructure safe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Call it convergence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 It’s never too early to make a master plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23-24 Building up to DistrubuTECH 2015. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Focused opportunity @DistribuTECH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 DistribuTECH in the rear view mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Critical infrastructure, embracing change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 An update from Dallas and UTC 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 UTC Region 3 Preconference - Electric utilities and First Responders Building a working relationship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Warm weather, warm reflections on UTC Region 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 http://blogs.ulteig.com/intelligence-infrastructure/
Next generation intelligent critical infrastructure solutions Published: March 17, 2014
On February 13, 2013, the Executive Order on Cybersecurity / Presidential Policy Directive on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience was released. It outlines the complex linkage between the United States’ critical infrastructure along with national security and economic prosperity, physical and cyber. Operators of critical infrastructure face the challenge of migrating from operating systems where the primary function is to identify outages related to equipment and weather failures, to improve the ability to recover from weather and manmade outages. The issue Critical infrastructure operators are being required to address the increasing demands of taxpayers and rate-payers to be more cost-effective while improving reliability. Then factor in the impact extreme weather events are having on our infrastructure as our dependence on these systems increases combined with manmade acts of terror. These combined factors are requiring operators of critical infrastructure to integrate digital technology while expanding and upgrading the systems like never before to improve the cost-effectiveness and reliability of these systems that we depend on. The challenge The Executive Order clearly establishes critical infrastructure as a priority, stating: It is imperative that we, as a country, take more action to strengthen our national policy on critical infrastructure security and resilience, and that includes measures to strengthen cybersecurity. Because the majority of our critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private companies, the public and private sectors have a shared responsibility to reduce the risks to critical infrastructure through a stronger partnership. All aspects of our critical infrastructure industry are experiencing radical changes to tradition. Traditional regional systems (distribution) are taking on the attributes of long haul systems (transmission) and vice versa. Governance that has historically been locally controlled now has international factors, products and governances to consider. New developers and service providers are emerging, any of which has the potential to inadvertently have a negative impact on the security and reliability of these systems.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
The broad range of our county’s reliance on technology from our homes to our regions, states and national systems are more connected than ever before. But with the advantages the increased dependence on technology has also increased the risk of major interconnected infrastructure failures and manmade attacks. These increasing demands affect all electric utility, transportation, regional airport, state and local government system operators. It’s important to have consulting and engineering options that include Intelligent Critical Infrastructure asset management solutions. This includes Executive Program Management Services combined with cyber-based IT audit services specifically focused on addressing areas to improve physical and cyber security. The most important aspect of these services ensuring commitment to customized offerings. Combined with traditional engineering and consulting service offerings during new system builds and upgrades, customization helps improve the stability of America’s critical infrastructure assets. Summary As our private and critical infrastructure systems become more physically and technology connected, the developing opportunities to improve cost and reliability require the sharing of risk and innovation. For example, developing renewable energy onshore and offshore requires not only upgrades to the grid, but upgrades to control systems connected via fiber and wireless. As a trusted advisor working with clients, I believe industry best practices are needed for projects to ensure critical infrastructure is expanded and updated to improve quality of life. Sources •
Executive Order (EO) 13,636; Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity
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Presidential Policy Directive (PPD-21) on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
Rise of the next generation consumer Published: April 21, 2014
Energy production and consumption used to be a pretty straightforward affair. A utility generated the power, sent it along transmission lines to the consumer, who used that energy to light, heat and cool their homes. Now, we have potential options to partner with our energy provider by generating some of the energy we consume, which helps reduce our costs as we can sell any excess energy we generate back to the utility. It’s the rise of the next generation consumer. These options are a direct result of the energy infrastructure becoming more and more integrated with technology, i.e. intelligent critical infrastructure. Changes have been taking place to provide a broad range of options on how we fuel our cars and how we purchase energy for our home, schools and businesses. Utilities across the county offer their customers electric power produced from renewable sources. Historically, power generated from fossil fuel burning plants cost less, but more and more consumers are opting to pay a premium in some cases for alternative power. When consumers choose to buy renewable energy from their electric provider, they are simply selecting what percentage of their power that they want to come from renewable resources.
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Commercial and home metering technology continues to offer the consumer more options as they migrate from being a mechanical meter with limited functionality to digital meters, i.e. “Smart Meters.� These new Smart Meters have local and wide area communications capabilities. A fully implemented Smart Meter system provides consumers with great control and choice over their energy consumption. Along with these options come changes that will require us to rethink how the transmission and distribution grid is monitored and controlled to insure the delivery of cost-effective and reliable energy. One of the key attributes of the grid today is that every consumer has access to reliable power. As additional energy sources are integrated into the grid the stability of power on the gird has to be managed. This is where it is critical for the infrastructure to become more intelligent to better manage the delivery of energy to the consumer. In summary, improvements to how we choose to acquire and consume our power will increase. As always, the balance between quality and cost will continue to be a major factor in our energy choices.
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From energy consumer to energy portfolio manager Published: May 19, 2014
Increased use and service demands have a large effect on the electric utility, transportation and regional airport industries, along with state and local government agencies. Due to this and a broad range of factors, critical infrastructure services and service providers must adapt. Among the things that drive the energy industry to adapt are:
From my perspective, this is a very positive transformation, particularly as energy is a major component of everyone’s quality of life. From the electrification of rural America to advancements in transportation systems and communications systems, we are experiencing the convergence of technology, which enables alternative energy solutions.
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The ability of technology to monitor and control a diverse suite of distributed generation sources
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Increased reliability of the distribution system due to the implementation of smart grid solutions
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Expansion of the transmission grid, driven by increasing public and political interest
However, these solutions have the potential to be disruptive without the proper engineering design and control systems in place. Strong engineering firms provide a scope of custom high-tech services, combined with traditional engineering and consulting services, throughout new system builds and upgrades, which improve the stability of America’s critical infrastructure assets.
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Incentive programs
So where is this taking us?
The U.S. electric industry, while adjusting to the impact of these game-changing variables, also factor in the cost of the electricity, the impact of lower natural gas costs, and moderate growth in the national economy. Then add in the effect renewables are having on the power delivery equation. Recent advancements in renewable technologies are opening up additional considerations by consumers, developers and utilities, all of which significantly affect the delivery of electricity.
Technology advancements in the delivery of reliable electric energy impact our home and business energy consumption, including the delivery of critical infrastructure services beyond the core utility. Consider the effect cost has on public safety and public service organizations and their ability to deliver services daily, or during a manmade or natural disaster. Without carefully managed planning, design and implementation processes for new infrastructure deployments and upgrades, the reliability we currently enjoy would be at risk, sometimes when we would need it most. While there are similarities in the networking of electric utilities (the grid) and communications systems (the network), the cost recovery model has a significantly different business case, with the two network infrastructures being interdependent. Historically, utilities have maintained a private communications network for monitoring and control. Due to the increase in the build out of shared and commercial networks, utilities now need a combination of private, commercial and shared communications solutions to manage the delivery of electricity to the consumer.
Historical view
Summary
As technology advancements are realized, it becomes necessary to find, implement and share best practices and training, managing the convergence of technology and infrastructure. We all need to adapt to the rapid changes technology has on critical infrastructure, while understanding that the integration of standards-based products, coupled with customized customer-driven applications, have become the norm and not the exception.
As our private and critical infrastructure systems become more connected, physically and technologically, there are many developing opportunities to improve cost and reliability, while sharing risk and innovation. We can see this in developing renewable energy onshore and offshore, which requires not only grid upgrades, but upgrades to control systems connected via fiber and wireless systems. This is something we’ll need to keep in view as our industry adapts and grows into a new era.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
Ulteig Extra - The impact of leadership on critical infrastructure Published: May 29, 2014
At UTC Telecom 2014 in May, we were treated to keynote speaker John Foley. John shared some of his life’s leadership lessons, as well as best practices he learned on the way to becoming the lead solo on the Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron, and as CEO of John Foley CenterPoint Companies. Following his presentation, John and I had a few minutes to share Glad To Be Here® stories about how purposeful leaders can save lives and impact the quality of life.
John and his team use leadership training to inspire others to challenge themselves to develop a common goal towards continuous improvement. The keynote presentation drove some questions like:
Reflecting on the conversation, I would like to restate the common reality leaders have to deal with: failure. George Washington, Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers, and any leader worth reflecting on, not only experienced significant failures, but also had to recover from what one may consider reckless, bone-headed decisions.
The good news is, regardless of where you are today, positive intentions plus action, plus consistency, has its built in benefit for us all. During his presentation, John stated the difference between being afraid and scared
I was recently asked during a leadership training session, “Why do some individuals use life’s challenges as inspiration while others use the same challenge as an excuse to fail?” The easy answer is choice. The harder answer, and most likely closer to the truth, ties to John’s message of commitment to the linkage between belief, mental discipline and physical preparedness. It begins with the belief in a vision that is greater than one’s self, discipline of training and preparing the body for the job at hand. What does all of this have to do with critical infrastructure? Services like utilities, communications, transportation, medicine, public safety, public service and so forth have been around forever. The quality of life we enjoy acknowledges the dependencies these transformed critical infrastructure services have on each other. Recent technology, specifically advancements in communications, can be disruptive to the reliability we have come to expect and can produce unintentional negative results if not well-managed. That is where leadership that drives critical infrastructure planning can determine a path forward, implement with accountability, and acknowledge lessons learned with a desire to continually improve. Otherwise, the formula breaks down and the result can be not only disastrous to the quality of life we enjoy, but can even cost us our most valuable possession, life. The benefit of a good leadership team is well captured in George Washington’s quote, “It is infinitely better to have a few good men than many indifferent ones.”
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What are your goals for you and the teams that you are on?
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Are you the team member that helps move things forward, or are you pulling the team back?
In simple terms, being afraid can freeze us where we are. Being scared, we are aware of the danger, but based on our experience and training, we can move forward while identifying and dealing with the challenges in front of us. Ratepayers and taxpayers expect those of us that provide critical services to continuously improve. Where does change start? First, do an assessment of where you are. Second, develop goals and objectives of where you want to go. Then, don’t let anything distract you. By the way, a distraction doesn’t have to be a bad choice, just a choice that slows down positive progress. For example, is there a difference being a little late or late to a team meeting? A leader should first inspire vision, followed by a discipline to teach ourselves to learn from our mistakes and then to take action to make a positive difference. Good leaders are needed more today than ever before. Individuals that can be trusted within a team of stakeholders to embrace and deal with the rapid changes are a reality of our world. The ability to adapt to change while boldly charting a strategic path forward is no longer an option for a leader, but a requirement. I think John Wayne captured it best when he said, “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” The UTC attendees appreciated the leadership development framework outlined by John in Phoenix and to the leaders that design, implement and provide critical infrastructure services that insure our safety and quality of life. A big thank you, and we are glad you are here!
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Ulteig Extra – Lessons from UTC Telecom Published: June 4, 2014
The UTC Telecom 2014 conference in Phoenix last month was well attended by a broad range of utilities and industry partners. We saw a significant amount of booth traffic during the exhibit hours. In addition, networking opportunities included breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with sponsored networking events beyond the show floor meetings.
These changes impact every area within the utility including, but not limited, to generation, distribution, transmission and enterprise corporate systems.
Most importantly, the conference provided the opportunity for utilities and vendors to share best practices, such as the leadership learning opportunities I referenced in last week’s blog post. Some show highlights were broadband industry trends, regulatory updates, end-of-life systems, communications advancements, and cyber and physical security. One topic that stirred up a significant amount of interest was the convergence of technology and critical infrastructure. This alone spurred additional give-and-take during and following several educational sessions. It wasn’t the only topic of note, however, as those of us attending as part of the Ulteig team engaged in talks on the impact of private, commercial and shared systems, as well as discussing access to commercial, FirstNet and additional spectrum (via the Access Spectrum offering) to improve cost-effective management of delivery systems, while being mindful of core requirements for reliable electricity.
In summary, UTC Telecom 2014’s show agenda did a good job highlighting how these changes affect how commercial and residential customers perceive utilities. The best practices discussions also explored how these changes will continue to be driven by our requirements, as consumers, for reliable, cost-effective and environmental-friendly energy.
The utility industry is known for its stable and systematic approach to change, where it historically can take years or longer to adopt new standards. New industry changes are having a major impact on the budget and build-out requirements that all utilities are experiencing. These changes are affecting investor-owned, public power and rural memberowned utilities equally.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
Ulteig Extra - Leadership critical to create a legacy for future generations Published: June 11, 2014
It was a day like no other in the history of the world when, on June 6, 1944, thousands of soldiers from numerous countries took part in the D-Day landings on the coast of France, aiming to help free a continent. Living less than 20 miles from the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford County, Virginia, I can’t help but reflect on why the memorial is located there. Proportionally, this community of about 3,200 suffered the nation’s severest D-Day losses. As we reflect on the 70th anniversary of D-Day, on those that gave it all during World War II to push back against one of the most deadly leaders the world has ever known, where would we be if not for their dedication and leadership? Would we even be here?
But these advancements weren’t made by a single leader. They were made by many visionary leaders with a can-do attitude and the ability to inspire greatness. While some of us may feel frustrated by the challenges we face today, I feel the need to point out that they pale in comparison to the challenges our country faced 70 years ago. So this is a good time that we, as leaders who support the nation’s critical infrastructure, reflect on our role. We are responsible to carry on the great tradition of making a positive difference when the leadership baton is handed to us, and continue building a solid foundation for future generations.
These questions refreshed my memory of a question asked during one of Ulteig’s weekly Sharpening the Saw leadership training sessions: why do some individuals use life’s challenges as a reason to do evil while others use those very same challenges to do something good? That thought brings to mind another event from 70 years ago, when an engineer named Melvin Ulteig founded an engineering firm in Fargo, North Dakota. His aim was to help bring power to rural America. As Americans, we have historically had a major role in not only providing leaders, but high quality leaders who make a major difference in our lives. During another leadership training session, while some of the participants shared updates on current and past projects, several of us noted the important role engineering firms have on the quality of life in America. We need to consider that 70 years ago, much of the country didn’t have electricity or running water, most roads were dirt, car ownership was a luxury and phone service in rural America was shared or even non-existent. Now, it seems that nearly everyone has a cell phone (each with more computing power than existed worldwide in 1944) and you have to look hard to find driveways that aren’t paved.
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Developing long-view standards for future critical infrastructure Published: June 16, 2014
Change is a constant in the universe, and for the critical infrastructure consulting and engineering services community, that change increasingly means addressing the convergence of technology and infrastructure. Strategic planning demands a crystal ball process that doesn’t sacrifice the core customer-driven requirements. These changes and the planning they require need to be managed with care so critical network operators don’t set themselves up for unintentional consequences.
But all that is beside the point. The point is, what is the challenge at hand? What are the short- and long-term implications? Do we have the best resources studying related issues and solutions? Who is consistently the team’s outside trusted advisor willing to ask tough questions and offer creative solutions? Don’t misunderstand; the suggestion is not to engage in a drawn-out decision process, but to engage in a thought process to review conflicting vantage points while we do our planning. For consideration This process is not new, but it does require increased attention with the convergence of all the new technologies available. Solid walls and silo approaches between departments, companies and agencies are rapidly coming down, with the upshot that a single organization may lack the ability to control all the variables it encounters. As we become increasingly dependent on services such as utilities, communications and transportation, it’s crucial to have smoothly operating critical infrastructure. For example, consider the added burden public safety faces if electric utilities have unnecessary delays that affect the restoration of electricity following a natural or man-made disaster. Our expectations for our quality of life will require public safety agencies and other local, state and federal organizations to closely coordinate their strategic planning initiatives. These are very complex issues that can take decades to play out.
Today’s challenge During a recent business dinner, I was asked to reflect on the level of understanding the public has regarding our dependence on technology and infrastructure services. My thoughts are that recent changes in our dependence on technology and infrastructure are phenomenal.
Mentoring leaders
It wasn’t that long ago when minor power outages required us to reset clocks, dropped cell phone calls were a common event, people used printed maps on family trips, and you could only buy products locally or from catalogs. Now consider; how many dropped calls have you experienced recently and do you know why it happened? Could our children find grandma’s house using a paper map? These are skills we use less and less as we become more dependent on technology. It is rapidly becoming easier to buy anything from food to airplanes via the Internet. Some unintentional consequences as we become more comfortable with technology include not understanding how to solve problems without that technology, personal interaction and the ability to negotiate. Like it or not, we live in a world of change, and due to our lightning-fast ability to communicate, we are making family, company and national decisions in a fraction of the time that it took even ten years ago.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
Developing leaders who will build with a long-view vision will become increasingly important as we expand critical infrastructure expectations. I have had the pleasure and honor of meeting and working with some of the best of the best critical infrastructure, utility and public safety professionals who are dedicated to never stop learning. Being students of their business regardless of position or age, they interact, question, learn, study and mentor. These are exciting times as we upgrade and deploy solutions that will provide critical infrastructure services for decades, with a direct impact on our quality of life. This will especially require those of us who work with critical infrastructure to get out of our comfort zone, while maintaining our individual productivity.
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
What does Independence Day have to do with critical infrastructure? Published: July 3, 2014
According to Wikipedia, Independence Day, or the Fourth of July, is “a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain (now officially known as the United Kingdom). Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States. One of the reasons that we can take time off to celebrate and enjoy Fourth of July activities is because our country’s fight for independence resulted in a common dream for all. It also created a critical infrastructure system that supports the development of manufacturing and technology products, and services we continue to enjoy. As Americans we are fiercely independent, but united by choice. The competitive spirit of Americans played out in the World Cup this past week. While the American team unfortunately lost to Belgium, the respect both teams showed while competing on the soccer field was recognized by those who watched the game. Political and company leaders who influence the critical infrastructure services we use should recognize that we, as Americans, are ratepayers, but also taxpayers who expect cost-effective reliable services. We have many examples of the creative and competitive spirit of America. We also acknowledge that we have leaders willing to fight for the best choices and standards. That competitive spirit is also reflected in the fight for standards. Most Americans aren’t aware of the well-placed arguments related to standardizing on 110vac and alternating current (AC) for the transmission and distribution lines delivering power to our homes and businesses. But those debates did happen and a choice was made to standardize on AC. In my opinion, this allowed the electric utility industry to focus its efforts on AC, which is part of the reason we have the most cost-effective and reliable power grid in the world.
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When leaders engage in purpose-driven debates with stakeholders, that drives a decision process which provides the opportunity and environment that allows everyone to focus their efforts as the critical infrastructure industry moves forward. History shows us that decisions made by a limited number of individuals or an elite are, more often than not, flawed and have to be corrected in the future. Celebrate the Fourth and our independence safely!
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Deeper reflections on the link between Independence Day and critical infrastructure Published: July 14, 2014
As we reflect on our recent Independence Day celebrations, from time spent with our family and friends, enjoying fireworks, barbecues, fairs, picnics, public and private gatherings, I trust we all took a few moments to recognize that our freedom isn’t free. Neither are the services provided to us as citizens. We enjoy a broad range of freedoms that continue to be the envy of the world. As I alluded to in my Independence Day post, one of those freedoms is the freedom to create value by serving others. As Americans, we continue to be a work in progress. We struggle with labels, choices and change just like the rest of the world. But out of our conflicts, more often than not our fierce independence drives us to give and produce solutions that benefit our families, communities, country and the world. Critical infrastructure services are a major part of that equation. For example, take the independence of the thousands of investor, member and publicly owned utilities that provide cost-effective and reliable electricity to our homes and businesses.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
The independence of these organizations improves reliability because energy requirements are well-coordinated, but managed separately. This approach means regional planning and engineering that goes into providing critical infrastructure is built on planning that started many decades ago in local communities. This is the same with our country as we continue to build on our differences region-by-region, state-by-state, growing and experiencing change that our forefathers couldn’t have imagined. I wonder what George Washington would have said about America being the first to have someone walk on the moon. Or Thomas Edison if he saw the ability for the world to watch as that first step was taken on the moon. As Americans, we have a great legacy of being able to pull together to solve critical infrastructure challenges. But we should also feel a great responsibility to not only plan, design, implement and operate these critical infrastructure systems effectively, but like those that have gone before us, to be stakeholders in our country and pass on that great legacy for generations to come.
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
Mentoring critical infrastructure leaders Published: July 28, 2014
Over the past decades we have seen major changes in how we provide and receive services. The evolution of technology is creating challenges for individuals, companies and government. Progress always brings benefits, along with a combination of additional advantages and obstacles that require real solutions to address the problem, not the symptom. A critical component of leadership is to insure that, as advancements are made, they are well-managed during the process so the unintentional consequences can be addressed during the implementation and operational upgrades.
An example is how new parents deal with the short and long term expectations they have for themselves. They want to be perfect parents, but in reality there is no perfect parent. But first-time parents committed to being good parents need to recognize the importance of engaging a larger team that includes family and community, combined with a set of guidelines to manage expectations. We have all heard the phase, “It takes a village to raise a child.” The same is true of corporate and government leaders who make decisions every day that have an impact on the critical infrastructure services we enjoy. Leaders can’t experience success if they can’t lead a diverse team. One phrase a mentor of mine shares is, “Be Here Now.” The intent of that statement is that leaders don’t have the luxury of checking out or passing the buck. Leaders step up to a challenge; they don’t look the other way when the ball is passed to them. An additional takeaway for me was to Be Here Now with my team.
Stepping back in time, I am reminded of a quote from Ronald Reagan: “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” A benefit of being an American is that we are free to lead, but with that benefit comes a great responsibility of expectations to create a common vision or mission. Our leaders have to learn how to address and learn from failure. Another is how to deal with the responsibility of the power that comes with leadership, to identify and pull together a diverse set of skillsets. Leaders have the additional responsibility to create stakeholders from team members so they become legacy partners.
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One important lesson leaders continually need to remind themselves about is that if they are only halfway committed to the team or think they can do it alone, reality will step in to correct them. If they don’t adapt, they will be replaced as a leader. Along the way, the mistake can be costly, whether through unrealized potential of a child, loss of a project to a competitor, failure of a company, or even missed opportunities to address a terror threat that results in a loss of life. Successful leadership comes from a team effort. I would encourage everyone to use the leader inside them to inspire the next generation of critical infrastructure leaders. We want to guide them to take ownership of their skills and talents as they dream, design, implement and operate the future of critical infrastructure systems.
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Leadership and disaster recovery is a hand-in-glove relationship Published: Aug 11, 2014
While at Mississippi Power Company, I was part of a team challenged with improving the effectiveness of delivering reliable and cost-effective electricity safely to residents and businesses in southern Mississippi. One project assigned to our team was the updating of the disaster response emergency plan.
How would we recover from equipment failure, natural or man-made disaster without leadership? As part of a weekly, multi-disciplinary (sales, engineering and project management) discussion, my colleagues and I talk about the qualities of leaders that have a direct impact on critical infrastructure in North America. We are currently reviewing a book by John C. Maxwell, The 5 Levels of Leadership. In summary, Maxwell states leaders are empowered by their team. A team leader doesn’t need a title to lead, but does require the support of those he or she leads. You may be asking what this has to do with disaster response. I have had the opportunity to witness firsthand how leaders emerge during times of crisis. Working with public safety, utilities, Fortune 500 companies and government agencies as they plan and execute strategic plans, I have seen the effectiveness and importance of leadership training. I could very likely write a book on the actions of leaders during crisis that would be very entertaining, though I believe the real story is before a challenge presents itself. That brings us back to the hand-in-glove analogy between critical infrastructure leadership and disaster response. Some may argue that great leaders are born with certain qualities, but the reality is that leadership skills can be taught, mentored and developed. Any individual can be a leader, but my experience is that there are some key common characteristics leaders have embraced to prepare them to be great leaders. First off, there is a commitment to following and serving prior to stepping forward as a leader. Those that seem to have developed the skill of leading, but haven’t learned the value of serving, fail the test of trust and lose the support of their followers. They need to learn the lessons of arrogance and the seductiveness of power. Post-Watergate, I had the opportunity to have a brief one-on-one conversation with President Richard Nixon in which he shared the effect of losing the trust of those he lead.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
This required pulling together best practices developed from decades of experience in dealing with hurricanes hitting the Gulf Coast. Anyone who has worked in the aftermath of a major disaster will be the first to tell you how important planning and training are. In reality, they can never truly prepare you for when you come face to face with the horror of a natural or man-made disaster. You rely on the training because you have to respond and only have time to refer to the manual for key contact information or reference documentation. But it is key that you have been prepared and know where and who to go to for the information your team needs. The 1,200-plus employees of Mississippi Power were prepared to step up and showed their leadership skills when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. When more than 11,000 electric utility crews responded from 24 states and Canada to help restore electricity, they had no idea how much damage had been done, as illustrated in this USA Today photo gallery. (http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/gallery/2005/09-28mississippi-power/flash.htm) The emergency plan we had developed for such an event did not anticipate the full breadth of damage, which had resulted in the loss of all power to businesses and residential customers in the region. But all the training and planning that had been done provided a scalable template. I remember getting phone calls at home in Virginia from past team members who shared how the planning and prep work helped crews get the majority of communications back online within a week because of the planning that had been done ahead of time. The ability to communicate during or following a disaster requires leaders to be trained and mentored, so that when an emergency presents itself, they are ready to rise to the leadership challenge. This capability comes from the willingness to invest in leadership training programs as well as collaboration between organizations and federal, state and local government officials. This ensures we are prepared as a team to protect our quality of life and, more importantly, protect lives. In summary, we need to recognize the individual opportunities available for us to develop leadership skills. We never know when it will be our turn to take the lessons we learn and put on the gloves of action that save lives.
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
Mission critical communication leaders Published: Aug 25, 2014
In my experience, mission critical organizations like utilities, public service and public safety agencies recognize and appreciate the importance of communications when responding daily to natural and man-made disasters. The ability for emergency responders to communicate is an extremely complex mix of technology, leadership and precise verbal communications. For example, how would you expect an electric utility crew to be effective while safely restoring power if they couldn’t communicate because the power was out at the local wireless transmitter site? How would first responders (fire and law enforcement) get to an area hit by a disaster if they couldn’t communicate with public works to let them know which streets needed to be cleared? What if the responder wasn’t able to analyze and report on the situation at hand, been trained on how to safety re-energize a line, or provide CPR, or any of a number of crucial skills?
The digital ones and zeroes traveling over fiber and wireless communications systems carry information that daily saves lives in the urban and rural areas of our county. Response and interoperability standards are in place across the nation to help make sure that not only the personnel, equipment, and technology are in place, but that the leadership required to provide direction is properly equipped to make sure the response is achieved effectively and safely. You may be asking, “What this has to do with me as an individual?” Imagine if during the night the power went off and didn’t come back on for weeks or months. Or you just received a call that your child had an accident at school but no one could call for help because the communications systems were down. Or the store was out of food because the roads were closed or the gas station didn’t have fuel because...you fill in the blank. Bottom-line, the life we enjoy is a direct result of those who provide mission critical services and who respond when things go bump in the night. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, Leadership and disaster recovery is a hand-in-glove relationship, “Anyone who has worked in the aftermath of a major disaster will be the first to tell you how important planning and training are. In reality, they can never truly prepare you for when you come face to face with the horror of a natural or man-made disaster.” We need to recognize the role critical communications provides to the teams of individuals those who stand in the gap to deliver mission critical services to millions upon millions of people every day. Who knows, one day it may be a member of your family or you who depends on those services to save a life or property.
While disaster response is a team event, the ability or inability for responders to communicate can cost seconds, minutes or hours. And, unfortunately, it can be days or weeks for accurate information to be received. But unlike sporting events, these delays can cost lives and property. I have worked with and for these responders for more than 30 years and, like the general public, find myself forgetting the tremendous effort it takes to respond when a quick response is required to save life and property.
http://blogs.ulteig.com/intelligence-infrastructure/
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A new world for telecommunications in critical infrastructure Published: Sept 8, 2014
It’s not gone by any means, but when it comes to traditional landline telephone service, which you sometimes hear called plain old telephone service, or POTS, wireless and IP technologies are rapidly becoming the preference of Americans.
These systems have been migrating to fiber optic networks that integrate IP and PSTN technology, and that also support legacy systems. Operators of these systems and networks understand the impact on lives and property if network reliability degrades during the transition process.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimates that in 2013 alone, about one in seven households dropped their public-switched telephone network (PSTN) service. Ajit Pai, an FCC commissioner, expanded on that during testimony at Congressional budget hearings in March 2014, saying, “33.6 million Americans dropped their copper landlines over the past four years.”
Based on recent efforts by carriers to drop traditional landline services support, critical infrastructure network operators are going through cost, risk and benefit analyses of plans to migrate to IP-based network systems and applications. This transition process is significant in cost, but also in resources to manage the planning, implementation, integration and cutover process. All this has to be done while safely maintaining system integrity and reliability. To help address migration challenges, telecommunication equipment manufacturers are offering a suite of telecommunication technologies to support multiple IP applications on the same network. These multi-system and application network solutions are critical to ensuring that not only legacy and existing applications are supported, but also evolving next generation multimedia applications.
Individual consumer choice is being driven more by the convergence of technology and cost than by a full understanding of the potential impact on reliability. A report from the National Center for Health Statistics, Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey, July–December 2013, says approximately two-thirds of adults aged 25–29 live in households with only wireless telephones. An estimated 40 percent of U.S. homes have no landline phone. That figure rises to more than 50 percent of households for those aged 18-34. Unlike individual consumers, operators of critical infrastructure telecommunications networks have systems designed to operate during emergency and disaster conditions. These critical infrastructure standards-based systems and applications operate over private, public and shared networks, and can be required to cover multiple regions and states, even the entire country.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
Just as consumers have adopted multimedia mobility, critical infrastructure users are implementing multimedia systems such as interactive video to improve daily operations, security monitoring and control, and field response, with the goal of addressing reliability and privacy requirements. For that reason, the federal government has allocated spectrum and funds for the FirstNet network for first responders. As other critical infrastructure operators such as electric utilities begin to eliminate traditional landline services, we are seeing them expand cutovers to IP while implementing fiber and microwave strategies for private wide-area networks. And while that process continues, they and their business partners will have to ensure the quality of their services aren’t negatively affected during the IP transition process. Sources http://www.fcc.gov/document/commissioner-pai-testimonyhouse-appropriations-committee http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/ wireless201407.pdf
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
Reinventing critical infrastructure Published: Sept 22, 2014
During September, I attended several conferences with a lot of good information. The University of Texas at Arlington hosted the Transmission & Substations Design and Operation Symposium, and the Utilities Telecommunications Council (UTC) hosted both the Critical Infrastructure Policy Summit and the Cybersecurity Workshop in Washington, D.C. All three events addressed changes to one of America’s most critical infrastructure elements: the cost-effective and reliable delivery of electric power. So why is the electric power grid defined as critical infrastructure? First, we need to understand what critical infrastructure is. According to the Department of Homeland Security, critical infrastructure is: “...the backbone of our nation’s economy, security and health. We know it as the power we use in our homes, the water we drink, the transportation that moves us, and the communication systems we rely on to stay in touch with friends and family. Critical infrastructure are the assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof.” http://www.dhs.gov/what-critical-infrastructure
As part of the agenda at the Critical Infrastructure Policy Summit, we highlighted policies related to sharing of information and infrastructure to improve the cost-effective delivery and restoration of power. The UTC procurement workshop covered the impact of physical and software security not only on operations, but also the importance of implementing cybersecurity processes during the procurement and implementation of critical infrastructure. I will explore these and other related topics that were part of the sessions as part of a four-part series, Reinventing Critical Infrastructure: •
Part 1 - Real World Power Grid Challenges Transformation from a limited-generation power system to a multi-generation network
•
Part 2 - Convergence of Communications Being able to network a board range of data collection systems
•
Part 3 - Security The importance of protection systems for physical security and cybersecurity
•
Part 4 - Compliance to Standards The flexibility to leverage technology to reduce the cost of system upgrades
My goal is to show how we can pull each of these elements together as we reinvent the delivery of critical infrastructure services.
Like we have discussed in previous blogs posts, the convergence of technology is rapidly changing the delivery of critical infrastructure services. During the TSDOS symposium, we reviewed how renewables are changing the operations of the power grid, as well as methods being adopted to ensure the quality and reliability of the power grid.
http://blogs.ulteig.com/intelligence-infrastructure/
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Reinventing critical infrastructure - Part 1 Transforming the grid: Managing multiple energy sources Published: October 13, 2014
Around the world, we’re seeing increasing implementation of renewable electric energy generation to meet energy demands. That means the electric utility industry is in the midst of reinventing the power grid to meet growing energy requirements while maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements. As the electric utility industry continues to address the significant increase in demand there is an acknowledgement by industry leaders the power grid will continue to be reinvented to address the growing set of requirements to meet the needs of us the consumers. Changing supplies Historically, the power grid has been supplied by a limited number of very large, very stable, power generation plants which are managed in real-time, all the time, balancing supply with demand. In other words, we match generation to consumption to maintain grid reliability. Now, with a broad range of small-to-mega power sources coming online, the transmission infrastructure has to deal with not only traditional and renewable generation, but the introduction of bi-directional power flows on the grid. This means substantial investments in technology and storage, to name just two key elements to maintaining grid reliability while still managing supply and demand. As an example, utilities are upgrading the transmission grid for delivery of renewable energy. However, since the large-scale solar and wind farm development is located where access to natural resources is greatest, these areas can be a significant distance from where the energy is required. Upgrades to the system are critical to address voltage instability and grid congestion, while expanding reliable delivery of renewable energy.
During his presentation, Dr. Lee provided an overview of the development of wind power generation in the state, which has expanded at an annual rate of 25 percent since 1990. This demonstrates a great power generation potential in many regions of the U.S. According National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Texas is the number one state in regards to the installation capacity of wind generation facilities. Dr. Lee added, despite various benefits of the wind power, an integration of wind energy into the electric grid is difficult to manage. The main challenge is associated with its unpredictability. Due to the irregularity of wind, the power generated from wind rapidly fluctuates, imposing difficulties both in terms of operation and planning. But in dealing with integrating multiple systems, we’ve only just scratched the surface. In part two of this series, Reinventing Critical Infrastructure, I’ll be discussing the importance of ensuring these systems can talk to each other using new technology for utility communications systems.
Managing integration I recently attended the Transmission Substation Design and Operations Symposium in Arlington, Texas. The conference is hosted by the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). During a preconference session on the Seamless Integration of Renewable Energy, Dr. Wei-Jen Lee, UTA professor and director of the Energy Systems Research Center, discussed how the delta between variable generation and demand challenge is being managed in Texas.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
Reinventing critical infrastructure - Part 2 Communications convergence: Ensuring systems can talk Published: October 27, 2014
The world is changing how we communicate. In just the last couple of decades, rapid technology advancements and the Internet have connected us like never before. We initially embraced the Internet for personal and business communications; now, we’re seeing the Internet expanding aggressively into the world of critical infrastructure.
Additionally, with more onsite broadband and a common backbone, the need for cyber and physical security concerns also need to be addressed. For example, as utilities upgrade their communications infrastructure, they must continue to operate legacy applications in some cases, even after the upgrade is complete.
Traditional landline phones, fax machines and personal communications have been yielding to the use of cell phones, scanners and email. Consumers and businesses are transitioning to IP-based services, which in turn is driving carriers to invest in wireless and fiber-optic systems designed to support the increasing demand for IP devices and applications.
Integration of future challenges
Critical infrastructure private network operators have historically used leased circuits or time division multiplexed (TDM) circuits for connectivity. For several decades, these leased circuits have been the backbone for private network operators. Now, network operators find themselves reinventing their systems due to the same business drivers that are driving carriers to invest in upgrading aging infrastructure. The world is changing how we communicate. In just the last couple of decades, rapid technology advancements and the Internet have connected us like never before. We initially embraced the Internet for personal and business communications; now, we’re seeing the Internet expanding aggressively into the world of critical infrastructure.
Critical infrastructure private network operators have historically used leased circuits or time division multiplexed (TDM) circuits for connectivity. For several decades, these leased circuits have been the backbone for private network operators. Now, network operators find themselves reinventing their systems due to the same business drivers that are driving carriers to invest in upgrading aging infrastructure. Historically, critical infrastructure implementation has been delivered to support a single application. Now, due to bandwidth requirements to support applications, there’s an increased need to improve network reliability. That, in turn, drives requirements for redundancy and emergency power. http://blogs.ulteig.com/intelligence-infrastructure/
Technology is now driving the ability to link devices and applications. If you consider the initial model of a single system to provide protection and control, you also need to be able to address cyber and physical security of the application interconnections. That means these evolving M2M systems will require additional security and safety monitoring systems to insure system reliability. What does it all mean?
Traditional landline phones, fax machines and personal communications have been yielding to the use of cell phones, scanners and email. Consumers and businesses are transitioning to IP-based services, which in turn is driving carriers to invest in wireless and fiber-optic systems designed to support the increasing demand for IP devices and applications.
Changing applications
With the convergence of technology, machine-to-machine, or M2M, approaches will become more critical in addressing our evolving requirements. Just under 20 years ago, I was part of a project to develop an automated mining truck. GPS technology had just become available to the commercial market and we were able to address safety and operational concerns to deliver payloads from the mine to the collection pickup point. We’ve really come a long way, in that now, we can not only park a car, but have cars drive from one location to another without a driver.
Our current systems are limited by bandwidth and legacy applications. As next generation IP critical infrastructure comes more into the mainstream, I expect we’ll see an evolution into intelligent critical infrastructure (ICI) applications. All the elements to make an ICI communications network are available today. The integration of sensors that can forecast a potential structure, tower or bridge failure using smart devices, connected to a system of devices via a secure hardened network, has great potential to save lives and property. Integrating these applications will require a critical infrastructure network made up of many systems. This will create a system of systems that can maintain the integrity of each individual system. Information gathered at the system level can then be analyzed at the network level to determine the best course of action. Considering the pace that we are not only accepting technology, but integrating into our daily lives, it is unlikely it will take another 10 years to embrace the next generation of new standards related to intelligent critical infrastructure communications.
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Reinventing critical infrastructure - Part 3 Protecting physical and cyber infrastructure Published: November 10, 2014
So far in this series, we’ve discussed the changing face of critical infrastructure and the communications systems that support it. Now, let’s explore some of the security challenges we see for infrastructure, and how they may affect critical infrastructure during these changing times. First, let’s establish what critical infrastructure is, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security: Critical infrastructure is the backbone of our nation’s economy, security and health. We know it as the power we use in our homes, the water we drink, the transportation that moves us, and the communication systems we rely on to stay in touch with friends and family. Critical infrastructure are the assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof. http://www.dhs.gov/what-critical-infrastructure
Along with rapid changes in technology, critical infrastructure expectations and requirements are evolving to improve costeffective, reliable broadband connectivity. But along with those advancements, we also see new challenges that require us to address weather, maintenance and manmade threats to system reliability. Reinventing the grid As part of the critical infrastructure industry, electric utilities are working to protect the nation’s power grid to ensure the delivery of quality electrical service. The power grid is an integrated distributed network of independent systems that includes generation, transmission, distribution, protection and control systems. This means a wide variety of threats to these systems, from structural, facility, and hardware and software failures, to severe weather events and manmade attacks. Operation and restoration preparedness When the lights go out, multiple teams are ready to respond to help with restoration efforts, and to coordinate assistance from non-local responders when necessary. A wide range of laws, regulations, best practices and agreements are in place to ensure smooth day-to-day operations, in addition to systems and processes to detect and respond to disasters. Electricity is such part of our daily lives that it is hard for us to comprehend the impact unless we experience an outage firsthand. But public safety agencies realize that threats to life and property increase when the power is off. That is one reason why the first responder community works closely with electric utilities following a disaster. What does it all mean?
There are elements in the world working to disrupt the systems we depend on. Anyone who has been directly engaged in restoration efforts following a disaster can share firsthand the impact on the quality of life, but also how these events pose ongoing threats to life and property. As a major component of improving cost-effectiveness and reliability of power delivery, utilities are working to improve physical and cyber-security standards. These measures are designed to detect potential threats against the electric grid and protect it from those threats. As industry professionals, engineering firms and manufacturers design and implement the next generation of protection systems, they acknowledge existing legacy infrastructure has to be supported and upgraded throughout the process.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
Until recent years, our power grid was implemented and operated with protection systems designed to detect outages due to needed maintenance and weather. As the world has changed, these systems are expanding to detect local physical threats as well as cyber threats that could originate from anywhere. Using technology to integrate these distributed systems can significantly improve the reliability and security of the electric grid. The key is the proper management of that integration. Our ability as an industry to adapt the power grid to detect and report physical and cyber threats is key to preventing major power outages.
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
Reinventing critical infrastructure - Part 4 Leveraging technology to reduce upgrade costs Published: November 24, 2014
Rapid changes in technology and threats to critical infrastructure drive updates to outdated standards. As part of those changes, new challenges often arise that require new, additional standards. Everyone in the critical infrastructure industry has had the opportunity to play armchair quarterback during what can be a frustrating process when making changes to standards. If we are honest, our effectiveness in the development of standards is a direct result of our ability to communicate. A critical element in developing any standard is a formal consensus of stakeholders Unfortunately, sometimes we think the technical merits of a new standard speak for themselves, and we just need to present it prior to any review or vetting process. Or even worse, we assume the end result will justify forcing a standard though the process. History has proven that the better we are in developing a stakeholder environment when updating standards, the better chance that we avoid costly unintended consequences.
The development of stakeholders during the analytical, conception, implementation and operational phases is critical to the effective establishment of any standard. Any time we make changes we have the opportunity to improve, but there is a very real risk to the process if we make changes without addressing potential risks or threats that have been identified. For example, labs like the Ulteig substation test lab can help in the development of solutions and standards, which can reduce risk by providing a testing and training environment prior to deployment. Conclusion to Reinventing Standards The result of any well-developed standard or process is realization of expectations and the avoidance of unintended consequences. This process not only works on the job, but within our homes, communities and government as well. The fast pace of technology changes in critical infrastructure drives rapid changes that focus on cost, requirements for increased reliability and an expanded set of expectations by organizations and end-users. By showing leadership in developing a stakeholder environment, we can produce results that very likely weren’t considered during the early stages that will improve the quality and reliability of the newly developed or updated standard.
In my experience that, during the reinventing process, we in the critical infrastructure industry have a tendency to limit exposure rather than reaching outside of our comfort zone to engage others, may not even consult the end user or client. When we’re asked to take on a new challenge, it’s necessary for us to reflect on past experiences and consider the following process: 1. Develop a core group of diverse individuals with a broad range of experience 2. Analyze all options, then develop a concept path to follow 3. Expose the concept plan to the user group; make adaptations based on that input
Visitors to Ulteig's Test Lab open house got a close look at the new substation lab gear.
4. Implement the initial step of the plan, then based on results, reevaluate the process and make adjustments 5. Form a larger stakeholder management group and implement the updated plan 6. Formalize documentation with updates http://blogs.ulteig.com/intelligence-infrastructure/
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Keep your critical infrastructure safe Published: December, 22 2014
Consider the cost to recover from a bridge collapse, a power line failure or a fiber optic communications outage. Combining inspections with a remediation process, monitoring systems, and in-place redundancies=, we can maintain continuous operations for critical systems. This is important as our increasing dependency on these systems is pushing requirements well beyond what was considered sci-fi just a few decades ago.
How secure is our critical infrastructure against the events and conditions it encounters every day? Over the past year, we’ve been exploring how the U.S. systems operate and the increasing dependency we all have on the services provided through these systems. With the new year, we want to continue discussing these issues, but also how to address potential risks using asset management services to update and prioritize risk mitigation plans. Risk management strategy is one of those elements that needs attention as technology advances and new threats are identified. This means updating and integrating any strategy changes with existing processes and procedures. At the same time, we need to bring together all providers of critical infrastructure services and support industries.
As we do more converged use of non-disruptive, nondestructive and passive technologies, we need to integrate multiple ways of determining threats and the level of those threats. That means being able to integrate motion and sound detectors, video monitors, and multiple types of digital sensors. We also need to decide on the best way to install these systems as we now have multiple options using fixed and mobile devices, including drones. So where are we going? We need to address a board range of network solutions within our infrastructure to build platforms that are easy to upgrade. This means using existing and new infrastructure engineering design tools and real-time lab testing that lets us deploy solutions much faster.
Here’s where we need to develop a new generation of leaders to provide consultant, engineering and monitoring services for our critical facilities. These services are becoming increasingly important to detect and protect against cascading failures due to: •
Natural disasters
•
Equipment failures due to wear, stress, age or abuse
•
Physical and cyber attacks
Benefits of asset management From reduced operating costs and targeted capital expenditures, to increased operational reliability and outage prevention, asset management makes our systems more responsive. When we integrate remediation and monitoring systems, we not only can identify where an outage is occurring, but the most likely cause. Then we can decide on the best response options.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
With an integrated asset management process, priorities can be set that meet budget and performance objectives. This ensures the program, project manager and stakeholders are all on the same page regarding projects, and that updates are identified and updated as required. As we wrap up 2014 and move ahead into 2015, what is your critical infrastructure industry leadership role going to be?
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
2015
Call it convergence Published: January, 12 2015
Like any New Year, 2015 brings many promises as well as challenges looking for solutions. Technology is moving too fast to keep track of everything, but there’s one overarching trend leaders, policymakers and managers must not miss this year: convergence.
to data management and control well beyond physical boundaries or borders. Once again, security of the related control and support systems are critical to insure the risks of implementing technology advancements don’t overrun the benefits.
In recent years, the value of cybersecurity has become an integral part of the critical infrastructure industry. Historically, IT addressed security concerns while the rest of the business focused on design, implementation and operational issues. But as we have seen first-hand with recent events, cybersecurity is now a central concern for all industry segments. Integrating independent systems, which we call technology convergence, requires broader solutions to address cybersecurity concerns for public and private systems.
Utilities, along with the critical infrastructure industry, now have an opportunity to reduce the number of networks that support integrated and independent systems. Doing this can make these networks easier and more cost-effective to protect, operate and manage. Multiple technology options exist to allow individual departments to maintain systems separately to comply with corporate policies and government regulations, while still realizing cost benefits of consolidating requirements and objectives.
Technology advances provide additional benefits, but unfortunately bring additional risks that need to be addressed. As we reflect on the integration of technology from tubes to solid state devices in the 60s and 70s, from analog to digital in the 80s and 90s, followed by the integration of systems and networks in the 2000s to the present, we are no stranger to the prices and benefits of change. Even as we faced a fair number of challenges that at times seemed overwhelming, we focused and addressed the issues with solutions that brought additional value. There are very positive indicators we are once again, as an industry, rising to the challenge with new solutions to address real concerns related to cyber and physical attacks on our country’s infrastructure. These solutions go well beyond software and firmware protection, extending to a whole new industry of threat and incursion detection devices. These can be integrated with analytics that not only detect threats, but can respond immediately to address those threats. While these systems not only improve security, they also protect our quality of life by building virtual fences to protect property and lives . Independent and hosted systems are being integrated to improve reliability and responsiveness. Each new system requires a long-term strategic view, while balancing what can be implemented in the short term to address immediate threats. Evaluation of the cost, risk, and requirements go well beyond traditional IT departments, requiring vertical support from stakeholders in each department within an organization. WOW! If that wasn’t enough to chew on, let’s mix in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. These devices offer a range of services and data gathering capabilities that could easily overload the data networks if not properly managed. This means extending our current approach
Publish date: December 22, 2014
For decades, I’ve promoted the benefits of shared infrastructure like wire line and wireless communications systems, the power grid and transportation systems, to name a few. The opportunity to take full advantage of technology convergence to address cyber threats AND improve the reliability of our critical infrastructure systems has never been greater. Basically, this convergence of intelligent devices, gives us a roadmap to transition the critical infrastructure industry into an intelligent critical infrastructure industry. Critical infrastructure leaders recognize the threat risk, and required defense systems are being improved to provide better management and control. But the deployment and integration of better broadband networks requires coordination between our leaders, both public and private. As we upgrade and replace aging infrastructure, which includes power, communications, bridges, medical, transportation, and data centers to name a few, the need for solid industry leadership during the transition is critical.
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
It’s never too early to make a master plan Published: January, 26 2015
To address the cost-effectiveness of the third phase (implementation and integration), critical infrastructure engineering and consultant firms need to work closely with the industry to identify and address additional cyber and physical concerns. Addressing these concerns can be more difficult than answering the age-old questions related to internal (private), external (public) or shared systems.
We’ve done the energy industry end-of-year reviews, reflecting on the changes from 2014 and earlier. Now that we’re into 2015, it’s not too early to turn our eyes towards 2016. Even with the additional communications tools we have at our disposal, we still seem to struggle with adequate time to communicate our goals and objectives. Text messages, email, video conferencing, and other programs help improve our productivity, but too often we miss the opportunity to have purposeful conversations to address upcoming challenges, corporate goals and objectives. In other words, we end up treating the symptoms, not the disease.
Recently the industry has been focused on hosted or cloud services, but the sheer volume and security of the systems along with data collected requires additional solutions. For example, internal systems hosted in private data centers could potentially be backed up in a public or private cloud. Expansion of private data centers that directly support daily and emergency operations is required to address not only security concerns but to provide access to critical data real-time.
If we look at planning for 2016 (and beyond), we do our organizations and ourselves an injustice when we cut back on the master planning process. It needs to include purposeful reflection and discussions on the progress made so far. During the initial phase (analysis and review), goals and objectives should be reviewed multiple times to insure that they reflect the technology advancements and changes in systems we use. Also, all prior assumptions should be reevaluated to update or eliminate outdated processes and systems. In the second phase (planning and design), we need to develop the draft plan, where the development of stakeholders should be a major focus. While face-to-face meetings are preferred, we need to realize organizations are managing national partnerships as well as multiple teams in multiple geographic areas. Fortunately, when used effectively, unified communications tools enhance our ability to collaborate with our internal and external teams. The effectiveness of these tools is directly related to the ease of access and reliability, combined with the ability to communicate with any device anywhere at any time.
The fourth phase (operations) has historically been less complicated when all system operations were managed and controlled internally. Systems operated 100 percent independently, with only a very limited number of individuals having access at any given time to monitor and control systems to address maintenance and outages. Today’s critical infrastructures must address broader threats to system reliability and operations. These threats are increasing and are man-made. So how do we address these threats in a costeffective manner? By working together with a broad range of stakeholders. -continued on next page
http://blogs.ulteig.com/intelligence-infrastructure/
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It’s never too early to make a master plan
- continued from previous page
Published: January, 26 2015
Proper master planning with key stakeholders Organizations have a natural tendency to approach all system enhancements and implementation the same way: like they have been done in the past. The challenge is to move beyond these limitations and address challenges based on a detailed analysis of the budget, risk assessment, training and requirements. Otherwise we shouldn’t be surprised when we have to address the same problems over and over again. I was recently in a discussion reflecting on a strategy we used to implement networking. It was a layering of individual systems managed and controlled by a broad range of independent organizations (i.e. a system of systems). One major success element was the creation of a layered governance process. But when it came to the planning of the system design, we used the old method of developing detailed spreadsheets. Now we have access to virtual reality systems that can build layered systems with anywhere from thousands to millions of individual elements.
The critical infrastructure industry is now embracing technology convergence with private, public and shared infrastructure. Some primary drivers are increased reliability requirements, carriers eliminating support of traditional telephony services, and advanced control and management tools. New systems offer new features and functionality that increase reliability, monitoring and control capabilities. One of the main challenges moving forward is the need to support legacy systems. Training and changes in operational practices are critical to insure the full benefits of new systems. Too often, organizations try and force new technology solutions to act and feel like the legacy systems employees are familiar with. Organizations implementing solutions don’t plan for training during the planning phase because they don’t realize the value of training during the implementation phase. Thus transition and migration training is becoming an increasingly important step in the installation and implementation process. As systems become more complex and interactive, employees should develop into stakeholders to ensure the suite of options provides the most value to employees. If the stakeholder process isn’t developed, then it is very likely the new systems will be implemented ineffectively and the desired objectives will not be reached. Benefits of detailed master planning Organizations that spend the time and resources to build a stakeholder environment while developing their business case are more likely to realize the full value of the solution being implemented, but they are also laying a foundation that will do a better job of developing effective leaders and systems for future projects.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
Building up to DistrubuTECH 2015 Published: February, 3 2015
Some of the topics discussed included “Beyond the Meter� services, which are continuing to expand, covering such things as connecting home, travel and at-work charging stations. This would include items such as charging any device anywhere, power outage notifications, personalized energy reports, digital divide, renewables and the changing electric utility workforce.
With DistribuTECH, there’s always something exciting going on, and this year in San Diego is no exception. The day prior to the actual DTECH 2015 event, we attended the Electric Light & Power Executive Conference, The Evolving Utility. Consisting of four separate sessions, the conference prompted lively discussions related to the changing electric utility industry. Industry executives representing utilities, innovators, regulators and other reviewed challenges the power infrastructure faces in meeting industry drivers and requirements.
http://blogs.ulteig.com/intelligence-infrastructure/
All of these topics acknowledge the impact of technology on the electric power grid and their relationship to cost-effective delivery of reliable electric energy. Technology convergence bridging the digital divide as electrical power consumer change into energy portfolio managers. It is estimated that about seven percent of consumers digitally take advantage of advance energy management services. What is telling about that stat is that the seven percent contains a mix of all generations, including seniors. My takeaway from the conference is that the utility industry continues to evolve to address requirements driven by the convergence of staff, consumers and regulators to deliver electricity cost-effectively.
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Focused opportunity @DistribuTECH Published: February, 5 2015
As we increase the data points being monitored, we will gain information that can help improve the reliability of the power grid, but not without challenges. Both cyber and physical threats are increasing, which requires utilities to plan ahead to protect the quality of electricity we depend on.
It’s not the southern California weather, the seafood or and local hospitality, but a common goal that’s brought more than 14,000 electric industry professionals to DistribuTECH. It’s the focus on the common goal of delivering cost-effective and reliable electricity. From keynote addresses and the initial sessions, we’ve seen a clear message in the challenges facing our industry where we acknowledge the hand in glove relationships that maintain a balance between cost and reliability. The main challenge facing the industry is how to communicate a clear vision and direction that doesn’t have unintended consequences while we move forward in an evolving utility industry. Panelists from utilities across the country carried the common theme that building consumer, policymaker and utility relationships is critical to ensure success as we address rapidly changing requirements. Addressing and finding solutions to conflicting priorities requires an internal and external team effort.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
For example, the introduction of renewable energy into the power mix has noted benefits as utilities provide more options for green energy. But the impact of changes in wind or sun availability requires additional controls to insure the quality of the electricity delivered doesn’t suffer. Battery storage not only is part of the solution, but also provides additional benefits for utility planners as they engineer system upgrades and design new distribution systems.
Best practices shared during DistribuTECH sessions and at the booths of industry partners covered solutions for our distribution systems. The topics ranged from transitioning legacy systems and deploying next generation technologies, to helping internal employees to better monitor, control, manage and safely maintain power distribution. While the convergence of all these tools can seem overwhelming, events like DistribuTECH provide focused opportunities to review multiple solutions under one roof and bring back information that can help our individual organizations.
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
DistribuTECH in the rear view mirror Published: February 9 2015
Getting ready for my flight home to Virginia following a week at DistribuTECH 2015 in San Diego, I had my laptop plugged into the magic of electricity and connected to the Internet. It gave me a few minutes to reflect on some of the highlights of the week, and I still find it amazing to realize what a tight community the electric power industry has. This year’s DistribuTECH let me reconnect with executive leaders, strategic planners, system operators and, most importantly, the teams that operate and maintain the power grid. It was also great to make new connections and learn about the broad range of solutions that are being enhanced and developed to improve the cost-effective delivery of reliable electricity. But before I expand on the low-hanging fruit of the new, as students of the business, let’s take recall how our industry has become a major cornerstone in North America. We can start by researching the history of our roles in the magical drama of the delivery of electricity. Most consumers probably can’t imagine a world without electricity. Having grown up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, I can give you an idea. If you think it’s hot when the electricity there is on, imagine what it’s like following a mid-summer hurricane. Everything is dark while thousands of crews work to restore power. No water. No phones. Generators run as long as there’s fuel. Few of those generators can power conditioners. It’s not uncommon to see residents bringing tea, lemonade and water to the crews working to restore power to every single household. I’ve even witnessed a catfish farmer help feed 150 Mississippi Power Company linemen in appreciation for saving multiple farms following a massive ice storm. It’s hard to appreciate what happened in the early days of electricity on the Gulf Coast, when local ice houses had to have generators to make ice. They started selling their reserve capacity locally, then created lines between cities to share load and improve reliability. Due to the cost, the government issued loans to provide electricity to rural communities. Now, not only is every home connected to electricity, but because of that unseen magic, we have cell phone coverage almost everywhere, land, air and water. Imagine what those early explorers would think if they could see the luxuries we enjoy today. http://blogs.ulteig.com/intelligence-infrastructure/
Now we see the electric grid transforming everywhere around us. The grid is evolving from a one-way energy delivery system to a bi-directional, converged energy and information superhighway. It’s easy to forget the magic of electricity when it’s everywhere. Now, the major challenge for those who maintain the power grid is making sure the electricity delivered remains cost-effective and reliable for all of us. It was easier when power sources were limited, making quality easier to manage. Now there’s a large and growing number of electrical generation sources. The good news is we have more management tools and solutions than ever before. But they have to be designed, installed and operated, using a power grid that can’t be rebooted or shut down for the season. The grid has to undergo its evolution and facelifts without shutting down, with unknown challenges around every corner. Our unsung heroes maintain 500kv lines from helicopters, clean live insulators with pressure washers, all while the power is still on! We should all take a look and consider the costs of electricity, gasoline, cable, telephone, cellular and water services. Now consider that without consistent delivery of electricity, the challenge is to continue to receive those services. Those attending DistribuTECH would tell you that there is no single silver bullet for our evolving power grid, but that there are many silver bullets that will fit the grid like a loose fitting glove, adapting as technology advancements are developed, designed and implemented. Some recent advancements we heard included the need to change how regulators and policy makers ensure that the cost of delivering electricity is fairly billed. Using drones for the inspection and management of assets, not just for daily operations, but also in emergency conditions. Integrating renewables, fuel cells, storage and such into the distribution and transmission power grids requires communications networks with more reliability capacity than currently in service. All of these changes require more secure storage, quality control management systems, multi-discipline engineering and field crews to safely operate and manage these solutions. These are exciting times. We not only can experience the wonders of the unseen magic of electricity where we live, work and play, but thanks to the innovators and investors, we have access to electricity everywhere we can imagine.
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Critical infrastructure, embracing change Published: February 23 2015
The electric utility industry focuses on new growth drivers and leadership requirements. Imagine if all of our interstates, designed for high-speed one way traffic, had to be transformed into two-way traffic AND had to accommodate bicycle traffic. Now you might have an idea of the transformation utilities are dealing with. Let’s explore the importance of the utility industry embracing change. Considering the dependence the entire critical infrastructure industry has on electricity, one may ask why any changes have to be made. The short answer? We all depend on safe, cost-effective delivery of reliable electricity. The electric utility industry is in middle of a major transformation globally! Domestically, the generation, transmission and distribution systems are facing industry drivers such as: •
Increased reliability
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Price and cost pressures
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Introduction of renewable energy into the system
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Storage options
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Cyber and physical threats to the power grid
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Limited and declining support for traditional plain old phone services (POTS)
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Increased management and control systems to onsite bidirectional power
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Communications with the consumer
Wow! Sometimes it seems like it may be easier to ask, “What’s not changing within the utility industry?” One sound response? Leadership and commitment. Every leader engaged in critical infrastructure recognizes how important their role is to our families, communities and the economic health of our country. Be it an engineer designing a substation, bridge, highway, airplane, electric car, or a first responder responding to a 9-1-1 call, industry leaders are critical links in the quality of life we enjoy. As the electric utility industry addresses changes in cost and reliability requirements, it also faces increased demand to support a board range of alternative energy generation sources. The planned upgrades to the power grid require significant investments over years, as this chart shows.
When compared to other costs like cell phones, cable, fuel and so forth, electricity costs have remained relatively stable while reliability has increased. Consider the number of homes that have cut the cord to the traditional one phone per family, replacing it with a cell phone per family member. As utility industry leaders lean into the challenges by updating internal processes and procedures to address changing requirements, the power grid will be going through a very similar transformation that will touch every public, member-owned or investor owned utility. This transformation will not only enable and manage the bi-directional flow of electricity, but will require increased interactive electric utility applications as the consumer transforms into an “Energy Portfolio Manager.” Innovation and the digital transformation of the power grid is expected to improve the cost-effective delivery of reliable electricity. But, it should be noted, only if properly deployed. Thus utility leaders have been updating their internal processes to support the internal convergence of technology and infrastructure for the broad array of variables the industry is addressing. This is introducing a constant state of change to the electric utility industry, but like the power grid, it’s a change process that’s here to stay. One fundamental change in process is a shift towards standards. However, with rapid technology advancements, utilities are making a shift to manage internal and external integration of data gathering systems. This is a significant task to achieve while maintaining the security of the operating systems that mentor, protect and manage the delivery of electricity. From the consumer’s perspective, these advancements will be welcomed as long as the quality and reliability of electricity delivery is maintained or improved. Change and innovation in the electric utility industry historically has been a very slow process, not an environment where rapid change produces positive results. Yet with the natural convergence of technologies, development of standards, and training of utility industry leaders and stakeholders, the industry will be transformed.
> www.eei.org/issuesandpolicy/transmission/documents/bar_transmission_investment.pdf
Publish date: December 22, 2014
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
An update from Dallas and UTC 7 Published: February 26, 2015
At the UTC Region 7 conference today, February 26, Oncor’s Director of Telecom Strategy Kelly McNair shared his insight into cellular-based push-to-talk (PTT) offerings. HIs presentation was an information session to help answer the question, “Cellular push-to-talk: What role can it play in utility mobile voice communications?” Kelly provided a demo and highlighted some of the key features and challenges utilities will encounter when using cellular-based PTT services. Some of the topics discussed were coverage area considerations, features compared traditional land mobile radio and use of cellular systems during power outages. Overall, presentation and group discussions acknowledged some utility applications were a better fit than others, depending on the user’s “Use Case.” For example, enterprise operations would be a better fit than a black start operations, or the utility first responders transmission, distribution and control, including telecom. The main reason for this is that carrier-based networks are designed to meet consumer requirements while utilities operate to meet regulatory reliability requirements that support operations during minor outages all the way to major disasters.
http://blogs.ulteig.com/intelligence-infrastructure/
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UTC Region 3 Preconference - Electric utilities and First Responders Building a working relationship Published: March 4 2015
Vislosky also gave an overview of the proof of concept testing done onsite in Arizona with Salt River Project. More than 20 manufacturers indicated interest, with Walker & Associates, ConVergence Technologies and MemoryLink being selected for the test. Vislosky emphasized the test included range, bandwidth, multipoint and Verizon co-interference testing. He also outlined various commercial UAV applications on the 700 MHz Spectrum
While winter has a tight hold on most of the country for a bit yet, it’s beautiful weather in Orlando at the Utility Telecom Council (UTC) Region 3 Winter Meeting. We’ve been having pre-session discussions that have given attendees a solid understanding of spectrum related issues. A lot of discussions have centered on options of how to move forward as bandwidth and reliability requirements for electric utilities expand for fixed and mobile applications. Our first pre-conference session covered the hand-in-glove relationship between public safety and electric utilities, hosted by John McClain, global coordinator at the Department of Homeland Security. John shared highlights of what public safety professionals have incorporated into the National Emergency Communications Plan (NEPC) to improve response to disasters. One points McClain drove home was the benefit of public safety and utilities working closely together to recover from those events. John also said his team would be very responsive to help utilities make connections with regional public safety leaders to improve interoperability and communications.
Finally, Brett Kilbourne, UTC vice president of Government Affairs and Deputy General Council, gave an update on FirstNet, 700MHz and Emergency Communications. He covered background on the budding relationship with FirstNet and proposed recommendations from UTC on behalf of the critical infrastructure industry. Kilbourne also shared concerns of public safety groups related to maintaining their ability to preemptively secondary users. Through his presentation, Kilbourne shared that LTE has the ability to manage priority, and it would be preferred that utilities be identified as public safety for specific applications. He wrapped up his presentation with an overview of the 700MHz A Band, and discussed how UTC was taking an active role to help promote the use of the 700Mhz A Band for critical infrastructure communications.
John Vislosky, a senior vice president at Access Spectrum, updated the group on how the lack of spectrum hampers the critical infrastructure industry, even as electric utilities face increasing requirements to improve operations. John shared how purchasing spectrum from secondary markets like the Upper 700 A Block from Access Spectrum is a simple and affordable solution to address that issue, adding that utilities such as Salt River Project are looking to integrate into their communications plan to improve operational efficiency.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
Warm weather, warm reflections on UTC Region 3 Published: March 9, 2015
One might ask, “Why do we attend UTC’s regional events?” This past week, more than 200 electric utility industry professional gathered in Orlando, Florida, to discuss improving the cost-effective delivery of reliable electricity. I think it is safe to say UTC’s Region 3 Winter 2015 meeting didn’t disappoint attendees. All of the sessions and vendor night were very well attended, despite the wonderful weather (while most of the country was experiencing winter’s last breath of cold) and nearby attractions that attempted unsuccessfully to distract attendees. The sessions didn’t only focus on ways to improve the costeffective delivery of electricity. Several sessions went into great detail on practical challenges the industry faces as technology advances. Presentation and discussion topics included the convergence of technology to IP while continuing to support legacy systems, while at the same time protecting the grid from cyber and physical attacks. Increased bandwidth and spectrum are still the driver for extending technology to the edge of the power grid, while carriers continue working to drop support for traditional plain old telephony services. All these conversations extended beyond the working sessions and vendor night to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and poolside discussions. These included both utilities and vendors reviewing new solutions along with proven best practices. One of evolving technologies discussed during these sessions were practical examples of using dedicated licensed spectrum like the 700MHz A block to control unmanned aircraft (UAVs) to move beyond line-of-sight limitations to address security and disaster response requirements. A topic the Department of Homeland Security raised was to develop a task force aimed at improving local and regional interaction, communications and safety training, between utilities and public safety first responders.
http://blogs.ulteig.com/intelligence-infrastructure/
While all sessions and meetings contained high value, I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight a core reason Region 3 is so well attended by both vendors and utilities. The groups get along great, with the willingness between vendors and utilities to share lessons learned is based on trust and friendships that continue to expand. So as we reflect on the growth in attendance being experienced by Region 3, I would challenge all attendees to look forward to the fall meeting in Mobile, Alabama. Hard to believe that Region 3 originated more than 70 years ago and the energy to make things better still exists. Lastly would like to congratulate Tony Marshall from Duke Energy on winning the Ulteig booth gift. But we all won by attending the Region 3 meetings and bringing additional value back to our respective companies. This will not only pay dividends in the delivery of electricity, but add to the quality of life for all of us.
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About Dan Draughn Based 1,300 miles away from Ulteig’s Fargo, N.D., headquarters, in the company’s Lynchburg, Va., field office, Account Executive Dan Draughn offers a unique client-focused approach to developing critical infrastructure integration solutions. Draughn’s philosophy is to address a client’s current issues before offering strategic advice. Building on that approach, his stated objective for meeting a client’s ultimate goal is to develop a vision and project structure, then harness Ulteig’s capabilities and experience to provide a roadmap to reach that goal. Draughn has more than 35 years of providing customer-driven technology and energy solutions to critical infrastructure operators in the U.S. and Canada. Especially in today’s era of rapidly changing technology, his relationship, leadership and team building skills are significant elements for the development of project stakeholders in delivering critical intelligent infrastructure solutions. Draughn and other Ulteig account executives lead a video conference series named the “Sharpening the Saw Sessions.” This series is aimed at Ulteig employees, but will be expanded to the critical infrastructure community in 2014. The core objective of the group is to enhance leadership skills to use at home, in the community and at work.
Publish date: December 22, 2014
Using the One Ulteig Client Network (OUCN), combined with team-building resources such as Making Rain by Andrew Stobel and True North by Bill George, the team discuss various topics and share life experiences. It has participants from Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Denver, Colo.; Fargo, N.D.; Lynchburg, Va.; and St. Paul, Minn. Draughn is proud of his strong family roots planted in the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He is happily married to his wife, Meade, of 36 years. The Draughns have raised three sons, and welcomed their first granddaughter in February. In his spare time, Draughn enjoys the outdoors by camping and boating. He also holds a private pilot’s license and likes to spend time flying with his friends. Draughn is also developing a mentoring program for young adults. “Meade and I have always enjoyed working with youth and young adults at church,” he said. “For the better part of a decade, we have been developing interest in creatively using multimedia platforms to provide community connections.” Draughn also discovered recently he has a voice for radio, and has been broadcast over 200 stations in the U.S., discussing ideas related to bringing the country together. Draughn’s blog is published on the third Monday of the month, with additional updates provided as necessary. Email Dan Draughn: dan.draughn@ulteig.com or blogs@ulteig.com
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MISSION: Critical Infrastructure
Critical infrastructure is the backbone of our nation’s economy, security and health. We know it as the power we use in our homes, the water we drink, the transportation that moves us, and the communication systems we rely on to stay in touch with friends and family. Source: http://www.dhs.gov/what-critical-infrastructure
MISSION: Critical Infrastructure 2014 blogs by Dan Draughn Publish date: March 12, 2015
http://blogs.ulteig.com/intelligence-infrastructure/
Dan Draughn, Account Executive dan.draughn@ulteig.com | 651-415-3870 Dan Draughn, Account Executive with Ulteig, has more than 35 years of providing customer-driven technology and energy solutions to critical infrastructure operators in the U.S. and Canada. He focuses on critical intelligent infrastructure, from smart grids to communications connections, and how they are used as consumers become energy portfolio managers.
www.ulteig.com