Maggie's

Recently the project of Comm 292 is going on. The project is about BC Hydro Smart Meter Program. Due to the requirement, I researched many articles about the program. One of them, which grabbed my attention, called How smart is the Smart Metering Implementation Programme. It is interesting because it combines concepts in both Comm 101 and 292 class. The article talks about the IT part of the Smart Meting Implementation Programme. This is also the program which supports Janice’s (the CEO of Energy Aware) business. The Programme is an large -scale project that is proceeding in many countries.

Installing the smart meter, the government claims, can help the environment and lower the cost of energy. Customers can also save money on using energy. However, the programme requires big amount of IT management since a massive amounts of data will be collected and analyzed. According to the class,20-70% of IT system are wasted and less than 8% are value. The statistic shows that developing a valuable IT system is complicated and might cost more than the saved. In the article, “The NHS NPfIT, for instance, was initially estimated to cost about £2.3bn over three years, but later extended to £12.4bn over 10 years. Commentators have said it would probably have cost £20bn to complete.” Due to all the fact, no wonder people start criticizing and distrusting the programme and the government.

http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/How-smart-is-the-Smart-Metering-project