Last month I attended the Low Carbon Networks & Innovation Conference (LCNI) in Glasgow on behalf of the EIC team. LCNI is something we always look forward to here at the EIC; it’s a key event in the industry’s calendar and it provides us with a great opportunity to support our partners in showcasing the fantastic work that we do together. It also gives us the chance to meet innovators, both those who already belong to our innovation community and those new to the EIC, and help them make connections with our industry partners.
This year, members of the EIC team joined our DNO partners (Northern Powergrid, SP Energy Networks, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks & UK Power Networks) on their exhibition stands in a display of our collaborative efforts. As Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks’ (SSEN) account manager, I joined the SSEN team on their stand in the main exhibition hall.
As their account manager, I often communicate with the innovation team over the phone, but rarely get the opportunity to meet with them all in person. It was great to put faces to names and to develop relationships with the SSEN innovation team on a more personal level.
One of our main priorities at the EIC is supporting innovators access the industry. Joining the team on the SSEN stand was highly beneficial as I was able to chat with innovators directly. This led to a number of positive conversations regarding potential future work and provided key insights into upcoming innovations, with the potential to drive energy systems forward to achieving a whole systems approach.
SSEN also had a presentation area on their stand and I had the opportunity to carry out a short presentation on each of the two days, informing innovators about the EIC and our work with SSEN as well as raising awareness of the upcoming SME Insights Survey findings for 2019.
Overall, this year’s LCNI conference was a real celebration of innovation in the electricity sector with a range of companies showcasing their innovative products and projects. From the DNOs themselves to engineering consultancy companies and start-ups, the event was diverse and full of interesting technologies and inventions.
The whole of the EIC team felt this was a brilliant opportunity to come together in collaboration with our partners to promote the work that we do, and reach out to new innovators, further expanding our innovation community.
