2009 UMA ANNUAL INDUSTRY SEMINAR
With a resurgence of revenue assurance in the distribution businesses and retailers as an important aspect of AMI and AMI rollouts, the UMA Annual Industry Seminar in Sydney on 20^th Oct will cover revenue assurance issues and challenges in an AMI environment, over the one day event. Presentations of case studies and discussion panels are part of the one day programme. The seminar is then followed by the UMA Dinner on the 20^th October.

See attached agenda, brochure and registration form. To register online, click here

The UMA Annual Industry Seminar is a pre-conference seminar to the two-day Metering Billing/CRM Australia & New Zealand Metering conference.

This seminar offers a comprehensive coverage of revenue risk with respect to interval meter data in an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) environment focusing on IT security, IT risk and AMI issues and challenges. Topics include billing software and computer science aspects of cracking encryption systems in use today.  Research being done to develop cryptographic algorithms will also be discussed as the enormous computing power by quantum computers is expected to present critical cyber-security threats.

Our guest speaker is Judi Jones from New Zealand. Judi is the Electricity and Gas Complaints Commissioner and she will give an overview of the experiences in NZ with consumer complaints, queries and volumes of meter data in an AMI environment.

By attending this seminar you will:
• Look beyond metering at complexities with meter data
• Learn about the New Zealand experience with AMI
• Identify challenges facing the Australian AMI environment
• Get an insight into the issues and challenges associated with interval meter data
• Participate in an afternoon workshop looking at determining problems with interval meter data
• Witness a demonstration to run tests to detect meter data manipulations
• Network with IT experts in areas affecting the utility AMI environment
• Get an insight into latest developments

Your workshop leaders: Geoff Rhodes and Guerlain Appriou

Geoff Rhodes has over 28 years’ experience in the ICT and defence sectors with specialist expertise in secure systems design and implementation. Geoff is the Chairman of the Australian Industry Group’s Technology Industry Development Council and a member of the IT Security Expert Advisory Group (ITSEAG) to the Trusted Information Sharing Network (TISN) on Critical Infrastructure Protection, reporting to the Attorney General’s Department

Guerlain Appriou has experience in energy trading, portfolio and asset management and data warehousing solutions for the financial market.

UMA INDUSTRY FORUM
Currently the UMA committee is preparing the one-day electricity forum in Melbourne towards the end of the year. Details will follow soon. The theme of the forum will be education re smart grids, smart meters, smart energy.

The industry forum will be divided into two sessions.

AM Session 1: “Electricity Supply and Demand Infrastructure” will explore the issues and challenges in the Australian electricity market. Updates on developments in the Victorian energy market re policy and framework, regulation and smart meter implementation contracts will be presented. Case studies on green applications and solar power developments will be part of this session as well.

Topics to discuss in this session include:

• January 2009 power crisis
• AMI rollout
• Demand side management
• Peak load management
• Electricity tariffs

PM Session 2: “Consumer constraints and perceptions” will explore the following topics of discussion

• Price signals
• Response to wholesale market
• Air conditioning load
• Street lighting
• Water desalination, recycling