BSR Insight | ‘Smart’ Networks Pave the Way for Innovation and Efficiency
At GreenBiz.com's VERGE Roundtable last week in San Francisco, more than four dozen top executives gathered to look at how energy, information, buildings, and vehicle technologies are coming together to enable new waves of innovation and efficiency. Throughout the conversation, speakers discussed how "intelligent" products like electric vehicles, smart buildings, and the smart grid are quickly becoming commoditized. As a result, potential value will be realized in software that links these products together. For example, “intelligent” cities are being conceptualized with smart buildings, electric vehicles, and smart grids all sharing data for better energy management.
As part of this conversation, Nth Power’s Rodrigo Prudencio introduced the "open electron"—a concept that refers to shared information networks that are platform-agnostic and optimized for multiple applications—and emphasized the opportunities in developing software that enables these efforts.
"With the 'open electron,' we might start to understand why energy matters … The last frontier here, where we'll spend a lot of time building and innovating, will be around the software and applications layers that will make economic and business sense out of all of this."
—Rodrigo Prudencio, partner, Nth Power (June 22, 2011)
About the Author(s)
Linda Hwang, Former Manager, Research
Topics
Related Content
Sustainable Investment in China article: As Environmental Protests Increase, New Implications for Business and Investment
BSR Insight: Sustainable Procurement in Practice: AT&T, Best Buy, and Dell
Share Your Thoughts
Please note, all comments are subject to moderation.