SPEAKER:
Vidya Vankayala, Ph.D., Director, Grid Modernization, Powertech Labs, Surrey, BC
ABSTRACT:
Utilities rely on robust telecom for operations. While some utilities own their telecom for operations, others don’t. Powertech Labs wanted to understand various view points on what are some of the best practices for telecoms used in G,T,D operations. 1. Own versus third party. 2. The experiences and opinions on Latency, Reliability, Security and Cost of owning vs using third party. 3. What are the implications of third part telecom for operations during wide-spread emergency situations that also affect telecom (e.g. wild fires, tornados, extreme weather)?
SPEAKER’s BIO:
Dr. Vidya Vankayala is the Director of Grid Modernization at Powertech. With more than 25 years of experience in the utility and hi-tech sectors, Dr. Vankayala has helped several utilities in grid modernization, distribution automation, smart energy program management and system integration. He has extensive experience in management consulting for electric utility transmission and distribution and also worked for two large technology vendors that provide grid modernization technologies to the global utility sector. Dr. Vankayala has led a number of technology programs at various utilities as a Chief Architect, Solution Director and Industry Specialist. Dr. Vankayala is a member of IEEE and a contributor to several smart grid and smart city standards. He has over 20 publications in operations, planning and technology enablement of smart infrastructures for industry, community and home.