Use of IT in power can reduce T & D loss: Experts

Implementation of information technology in Orissa’s power sector can help reduce transmission and distribution losses through efficient energy auditing, detect energy theft and also help in better load management, feels Debraj Biswal, chief executive officer, Bhubaneswar Stock Exchange (BSE).

Speaking at a seminar on Information and Communication Technology (ICT): The Business Enabler, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Biswal said, “One of the applications of IT in electricity distribution is the automatic meter reading which takes meter reading of consumers automatically through modem, conducts energy audit, detects energy theft and also helps in better load management.”

There are other useful IT applications like GIS mapping which is done through satellite network and it helps in consumer indexing, pole scheduling, substation mapping, identification of ghost consumers and also enables to know the capacity of conductor where replacement upgradation is required, he added.

Talking on ICT as a knowledge enabler, Anurag Raturi, senior management (knowledge management), Tata Steel said, “The objective of knowledge management is to capture, disseminate and reuse knowledge involving executives through knowledge communities. The knowledge framework involves knowledge gap identification, generation and capture of knowledge, storing and disseminating knowledge in portal and then disseminating it.”

Raturi felt that knowledge management has to grapple with many challenges in the future like identification of the potential of every knowledge activity and keeping knowledge management initiatives in sync with the changing times.

Alak Sundar Basu, vice-president, Metalogic Systems Limited, a Kolkata-based software services organisation said, Knowledge management involves understanding relations, principles and patterns of knowledge and at the macro level, knowledge starts from internal awareness and responsiveness.