Sustainable Industrial IoT Application Store: The next big thing?

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has announced plans to create a new Bauhaus modelled on the influential design school as part of the European Union’s €750 billion coronavirus recovery plan. Speaking in her inaugural State of the Union address to the European parliament, Von der Leyen outlined her plan to create a “new European Bauhaus” to kickstart a cultural and sustainable movement in the European Union. “We will set up a new European Bauhaus – a co-creation space where architects, artists, students, engineers, designers work together,” she said.

Achieving carbon neutral goals requires the rapid decarbonisation, digitalisation, and decentralisation of our increasingly interconnected energy systems around the world. In light of the new possibilities offered by big-data-driven smart grid technological developments, most notably smart meters, the importance of engaging households in energy saving, shifting demand to off-peak time, and producing renewable electricity for their own use has attracted growing attention worldwide. However, existing government policies and economic incentives are not sufficient to foster household energy behavioural changes at scale. Socio-cultural factors, in particular public distrust in smart energy data, appear to be a key barrier that holds households back from adopting more environmentally friendly energy behaviours.