Telecom and Energy, vital sectors enabling Smart Living

Abstract

This thesis investigates the past, present and future of energy, telecom and household related developments aiming to pinpoint synergetic innovation possibilities. Providing overview and insights at the aggregation level above, being the sector network, is the first necessary step to reach this goal. The academic part of this thesis focuses on the sector network. Statistics Netherlands provided two data sets: the Working People and Monetary transactions. These data sets reflect a part of the monetary sector network evolution over the last two decades. In this research, we analysed these data sets from a complex network perspective and visualised as a real world network. Next, the data sets were related to the list of vital sectors of the Dutch Ministry of Interior Affairs to observe and understand trends and dependencies among these sectors. This research shows that the Household is the prime and most highly connected node within the sector network closely flanked by Telecom and Energy. The practical part of the thesis focuses on the vital sectors, their infrastructures, the major trends and the added value resulting from their collaboration. A trend analysis of the ICT developments related to the household in 2000, 2010 and expectations of 2020 are examined by means of expert interviews. Combining innovation options related to Energy, Telecom, Healthcare and Household reveal viable, sustainable near future trans-sector solutions. The importance of the information communication value added to Smart Grids is clearly demonstrated. Finally, the development of devices within the home is studied to find out which sectors already have traces in home and which effects would be expected for the telecom sector.