- PHP/Symfony
How can the population be best informed about power grid shutdowns in the event of a shortage? The Association of Swiss Electricity Companies (VSE) and around 100 grid operators have addressed this scenario collaboratively and developed the PowerTracker platform together with us.
PowerTracker is the first truly industry-wide application for electricity grid operators. This digitalisation project required standardising data and processes across many highly diverse OSTRAL members. Thanks to our agile approach, we successfully found a pragmatic and efficient solution that still meets our membersā high requirements for usability, security, data protection, and sustainability.
The complete information solution in case of power shortages
In a context of potential electricity shortages and scheduled power outages, information to the public, crisis management units and between network operators is crucial. Introducing PowerTracker, a complete open data solution, including a data management portal for energy grid professionals, a website and an app to keep the public informed.
The Open Swiss Buildings API
For PowerTracker, we needed to obtain and query information about swiss buildingsā location, address and entrances. We used the open data repository published by the Swiss Building Register. But the data accessible did not meet our needs in terms of querying and data analysis features. This is why we developed Open Swiss Buildings, an open source API made for Open Data.
This is how we created the custom-made Open Swiss Buildings APITest the Open Swiss Buildings API
A useful app we hope you will never use
In addition to a website, we decided to develop an app to make sure the information is pushed at the right time, about the correct location(s) to the targeted groups. After downloading and entering their address in the PowerTracker iOS/Android app, users will be directly notified about planned electricity shutdowns.
The PowerTracker app helps you to be informed of potential power shutdownsFrom issue identification to prototype in a week
During the Energy Hackdays, we started work on the problem of providing information to the public during power cuts. Using the Design Sprint methodology, we went from identifying the issue(s) and challenges to a prototype solution in just one week.
How Design Thinking can boost the early stages of a project
With approximately 100 stakeholder organisations, many unknowns, and significant time constraints, this project presented an exceptional challenge. In the event of a crisis, the tool needs to be fast and easy to use for millions of users, while also ensuring high security and offline functionality. We successfully overcame this challenge thanks to the resilience, extensive experience, and openness of both the project team and all stakeholders involved.
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