Reflecting back, moving forward. As we begin 2021, we all have had even more time to reflect on “that year” of 2020. For me, that was my “Energy Transition” year.

I really value these reflective periods. They allow you to simply “recalibrate” so you can at least start the new year off on a more purposeful set of objectives, those strategic stakes in the ground. Of course, you can argue these can simply end up as new year resolutions, often broken in the first few weeks, but hopefully, these objectives stay anchored into the ground as a firm intent, they become the foundation to build out from. Well, that’s my intent.

When I reflect back on the 2020 year, I have recognised the needs to make a significant energy change. As I posted my critical top six energy developments in 2020 in this recent post “Energy Progress- the best of 2020 leads to a great 2021″ it triggered a deeper evaluation to lead out to 2021.

The key to 2021, in my opinion, will be a real breakthrough year of innovation, based on technology invention.

“2020 advanced the commitment to the shift from fossil fuel to renewables that has real momentum in the coming years. 2021 will be the breakthrough year where the energy transition has the unstoppable forces happening.”

We are all wanting to look forward, to a different, a more engaged world in 2021.

Reviewing my recent activities around Energy Transition.

Reflecting back, moving forward. In the past two-plus years, the whole Energy Transition has been my platform to apply my innovation learning and ecosystem thinking. The Energy story has really changed my focus on where I offer support.

Firstly in December 2019, I launched the site www.innovating4energy.com and have posted over 50 articles in this twelve-month period across the whole energy spectrum. This dedicated site enables me to consolidate my thinking previously spread out over different posting sites and gave me the dedicated focus point to build my view of the energy transition, described below.

In this year, 2020, I was singled out to be in the top ten energy transition influencers by Onalytica in their Who’s in IIoT in there recent September report.

In November 2020, I was delighted to be included within the top ten hydrogen influencers that included @mariofornarelli @h2gazette @hydrogenenergy @reuters @climate @hydrogencouncil @h2europe @siemens_energy @ft and finally myself@paul4innovating. That seems great company to me!

The link to this hydrogen evaluation is via Node Graph Gallery. It provides a detailed graph representing a network of 4 588 Twitter users whose recent tweets contained “hydrogen energy” or replied to or mentioned in those tweets. It is an interesting visualization to help sort out social media and thought leaders. The evaluation was undertaken in November 2020.

Ecosystems are now becoming essential for managing the Energy Transition. My ecosystem focus is relatively narrow on Industrial IoT & the Energy Transition but it has a significant business impact when applied. I was delighted to be recognized in the Ecosystem top thought leaders on Thinkers 360, a premier thought leader and influencer marketplace for recognition across different social media channels 

Moving forward in 2021

I think the business model will radically change. Ecosystems where collaborations will become increasingly prevalent and platforms where digitalization will advance our awareness, efficiencies and effectiveness will be central to lasting change. Innovation will simply advance due to the exchanges through digital enablement between collaborators and having more diversity of opinion and seeking out that network effect. Innovation in new technology will enable the energy transition even more in the coming years.

The Energy Industry has to “embrace” both the ability to collaborate with each other to search and explore radical, innovative solutions, and that is where Ecosystem design has its real power. Also, by deploying more a platform thinking Energy solution providers and sellers will value data as the increased currency that a more diverse energy system requires to be effective and efficient.

Ecosystems and platforms are becoming vital for the Energy Transition, especially where collaborations and digitalization form an increasing transformation part.

Advancing my degrees  of separation

When you are facing complexity you need to break it down into its component parts to evaluate it, to make greater sense of those parts and attempt to bring it back into a new sense of order.

This site of www.innovating4energy.com was part of that deliberate design as the energy transition has become a central focus of mine. Yet to deliver understanding you have to apply your thinking to the other contributing parts, my degrees of separation.

Ecosystems are the way for business to evolve and have been critical to my decision to, again, separate my thinking, and provide a dedicated posting site ecosystems4innovators.  This allows that separation, identification and focal need and provide a better understanding of the value of ecosystem design.

For the platform understanding, I have again separated my thinking onto another dedicated posting site for building thinking out on a new integrated IIoT innovation engagement platform “Connecting digital, innovation and industrial” providing insights and thinking on platforms as my focal point of offering.

A final step of separation for my increased “energy purpose” has been this increased recognition building the internet of energy to provide a more focused view of digitalization within the energy system.  This will be the real enabler in constructing and layering a new energy infrastructure, where the digital and physical run in parallel, and need a high dependence on each other to design and deliver affordable, sustaining power across the entire energy system.

Innovation is always to the fore.

Lastly, in dedicated focus areas, the Energy Transition acceleration will come from increasing innovation and the constant search for improving technology or discovering breakthroughs. Innovation needs a dedicated investment appreciation.

For me, innovation has been a core area for the past twenty years. Evaluating, stimulating, encouraging, and organizing innovation by building the capacities, capabilities and competencies innovation management requires. Innovation is the catalyst of change within the Energy Transition and my critical value-adding point.

I have been providing insights, advice and concepts for innovation and many of these can be found on my dedicated posting site paul4innovating

Turning all my research towards commercial reality is ready to be applied

The last part of my 2020 year has been the sheer determination to follow up on research within the energy transition.

I have been building an extensive library of topics, articles and reports, hundreds of GIFs, partly built into an extensive Microsoft OneNote energy system and also within an expanding filing system. This work has become a real battle to index and build, but it is getting extensive and highly valuable.

For me, 2021 needs to be realization time.

My current work is working through how and where I can offer a return for my investments and provide clients’ propositions that offer value, impact and knowledge.

In these recent weeks, I am trying to work out the type of Energy Transition Service I can offer, that has a value that provides market-driven insights and can piece together in-depth reports, outlined roadmaps, and understanding of the options that the energy changes are creating for us all to understand.

I finish on my 2020 Energy Progress stating my energy journey, and what it means to me as we enter 2021.

Energy Transition needs to be generated in different ways, my positioning:

• Emphasis the value/impact of innovation within the Energy Transition (as my core). It builds out the potential to change.
• A consistent focus on being seen as a Business Builder and offer perspectives, opinions, and outlooks
• My belief that there are different aspects of activism to bring focus to this transformation and it is engaging across all of these avenues
• The scope, pace, and directions of change need a sense of urgency, and my role is to help accelerate that journey.
• The broader perspective, putting content into context, giving knowledge and insight leads to making more informed decisions, that’s my positioning.
• I see myself as the Outsider looking into the Energy World.

This focus translates into value positioning:

• The (absolute) needs within the Energy Systems require solutions and change does lie in creating impact, understanding and viable alternatives.
• The significant potential for new market design, different business models and system operation solutions offers a real business opportunity.
• The fascination with identifying new enabling technologies and exploring and exploiting these
• The Energy Transition is one of today’s big challenges in energy, climate, and our planet and needs clarity for potential clients on how it can be leveraged.
• There is so much societal need for this energy transition, it needs framing and building differently, so it attracts stakeholders to join in. The value of building that communicating positioning with the additional external perspective strengthens the narrative and broader identification.
• The desire to add more impact, understanding, and awareness to the Energy Transition, to give greater momentum to internal teams provides additional momentum and resolution.

My 2021 purpose is providing different points of insightful and impactful design in Energy transition.

I cover the Energy Transition through innovation, ecosystem and platform thinking by (deliberate) design. Interested to learn more, no time like now.

My best of Energy Wishes to you in 2021. Let’s search for synergies and making connections that are mutual and rewarding.