The representatives of Romanian Energy Center Association (CRE) are more than welcome to announce that EDDIE Project is approaching its end, and after 3.5 years of activity combined with the hard work of the consortium, it still continues to reach a diverse and large audience. Recently, the outcomes of the project were showcased during the European Sustainable Energy Week 2023 (EUSEW) conference. As such, these references are demonstrating the high relevance of EDDIE’s activity in the energy sector.
The EDDIE project started on the 1st of January 2020, and it will end on the 31st of December 2023, leaving only a few months to maximize the undergoing actions. The EDDIE ecosystem is planned to also operate after the end date of the project since the focus of the consortium and of the European Commission is to ensure the sustainability of the Blueprint Strategy for the Digitalisation of the Energy value chain.
The continuous effort of the team keeps reaching a diverse and large audience and we are pleased to announce that, recently, the outcomes of the project have been showcased during the EUSEW conference by various expert members of the EDDIE ecosystem. The hybrid event took place between the 20th and the 22nd of June 2023 and is the biggest annual event dedicated to renewables and efficient energy use in Europe. It is organised by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) and the Directorate-General for Energy. Moreover, the European Commission declared the year 2023, from the 9th of May 2023 up until the 9th of May 2024, as the European Year of Skills, which aims to address skills gaps in the European Union and boost the EU skills strategy, which will help reskill people. The focus is on digital and green technology skills. The idea is that throughout the year, relevant stakeholders will work together to promote skills development, and this could also be seen during the sessions presented in EUSEW.
During the “Revision of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan: boosting skills and competitiveness in clean energy technologies” panel, Maria Laura Trifiletti – coordinator of the European Technology and Innovation Platform Smart Network for Energy Transition (ETIP SNET), mentioned the EDDIE project and its results in terms of skills. She underlined that the consortium has identified on the technical side, skill gaps like cloud services, digital platforms, cybersecurity and communication technologies. By comparing the use of digital tools versus the training offer, a significant gap has been identified in cloud servers and online collaboration platform. She also mentioned that digital literacy must be improved at all levels, as well as education on energy policy, market design and legal frameworks, considering an interdisciplinary approach the best solution for the energy sector.
During the panel discussion on the “Upskilling the EU’s industrial workforce to create clean energy systems for electric mobility” Tzeni Varfi – Principal at the European Association representing the leading Distribution System Operators (E.DSO), spoke about digitalisation in general, and commented on how the EDDIE project is a relevant source of information in terms of skill needs, coverage and gaps. Ms Varfi revealed that adapting to digitalisation, and the skills associated with it, is a challenge for DSOs even though they were aware that digitalisation was vastly growing for a number of years. Currently, decisions have been made for improving digital management skills, for creating training programmes or for adapting recruitment processes for profiles like data analyst, grid management, grid cybersecurity manager, different specialists, etc
Moreover, Ms Varfi highlighted that the results presented in her slides have been provided by the E.DSO members as part of the EDDIE project and urged the audience to stay close because “even if the project will reach its end soon, there are plans for an alliance for digital skills that is growing, and it is not targeting only DSOs”.
While the first session aimed at raising awareness about the need to accelerate research and innovation in energy and therefore inform the audience about the revised Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET) Plan, the second one tried to answer the question of “How best to achieve Europe’s transition to a zero-emission mobility ecosystem for both workers and employers?”, considering that between 2021-2030, 42% of employees in the energy and mobility sectors will need training.
Therefore, given the above, the project is useful for the people, institutions and companies that investigate skill gaps and work towards the digitalisation of the energy sector. The project partners hope that their activities and findings will play a greater role in such events even when it comes to taking critical and high-impact decisions.
In conclusion, the EDDIE consortium is pleased that the project is gaining traction in the industry and is continuously dedicated to identifying the skills needed for the digitalisation of the energy sector in its transition, either through re-skilling, up-skilling, or life-long learning at all levels of education. Moreover, creating the “Large Scale Partnership for Digitalisation of Energy” to continue the work of the project, is a clear opportunity to scale the project’s results.
