IBM and Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering

IBM and a group of leading utilities -- the Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition -- today announced that they handed over stewardship of their Smart Grid Maturity Model to the Carnegie Mellon(R) Software Engineering Institute (SEI). As progressive utilities around the globe modernize power grids with digital technology, executives want to know that making the grid smarter is the right thing to do and they want to know how to do it.

The electric grid is the largest and most complex machine in the world and in places it is now critically overburdened. Impacts of climate change, available technology, and the current economic crisis represent the final tipping point for a much needed overhaul. The Smart Grid Maturity Model will serve as a strategic framework for utilities, vendors, regulators, and consumers that have a role in smart grid transformation -- from technological to regulatory to organizational.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, if the North American grid were just 5% more efficient, the energy savings would equate to eliminating the fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from 53 million cars -- one of the reasons that the DoE is supporting this effort through its Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability and the National Energy Technology Laboratory. Support of the Smart Grid Maturity Model by DoE enables it to be accessible to all stakeholders of the electric power industry.

"The software development industry is a prime example of how maturity models have moved entire industries forward," said Guido Bartels, General Manager, Global Energy & Utilities Industry at IBM. "We selected SEI because of its demonstrated success in providing frameworks that enhance business and technical processes, security, resiliency and interoperability -- all critical elements in responding to opportunities driving the sustainable supply and use of energy essential today."

Part of the global research university Carnegie Mellon, the SEI operates at the leading edge of technical innovation. It serves as a national and international resource for architecture, network security, process improvement, and systems integration. The SEI has developed worldwide de facto standards, like the Capability Maturity Model® Integration (CMMI) and led international efforts to improve network security through its world-recognized CERT program.