Background and objectives
Currently, consumer interest and awareness of the energy system (= energy literacy) is relatively low. However, the energy transition will require efforts and new practices from all actors in the energy chain. The European Commission wants to understand the potential role and benefits that consumers can bring to the energy transition.
DIGITISE aims to explore this potential role and will propose a new framework for empowering consumers to understand why, how and when they use energy. It will draw on models and digital tools already used in other sectors such as health and finance. This holistic approach aims to create new sustainable ecosystems to improve energy services and literacy, and simplify consumer participation.
To achieve this, the Digitise project will propose and test its advances through a Living Lab set-up and 4 demonstration sites in Greece, Spain, Croatia and Ireland. These sites will involve different actors, including consumers, prosumers, business entities such as retailers, aggregators and local energy communities to test and co-create the new models.
Modalities of the mission
Missions Publiques will be continuously involved throughout the project, reconciling the needs and expectations of consumers and stakeholders with the technical hypotheses and developments of the partners. A first task is to develop a strategy for the involvement of consumers and stakeholders, which will allow us to have a constant interaction between the members of the energy communities in the demonstration sites and the development of the project. A second part is the organisation of several workshops in each of the demonstration sites to understand what are the socio-economic, behavioural and regulatory barriers that prevent people from participating in the energy transition. More generally, we will bring our experience and social science background to complement the technical and commercial expertise of the other partners.
Added value of the approach
Beyond questioning the role of consumers in the energy transition, the Digitise project will propose concrete solutions to make this consumer engagement a reality. It is a real research action that is not about the possibility of a policy, but really about its implementation on the ground. It raises the question of how complex technical things can be handled and managed by the people who benefit from them. It is particularly relevant to the environmental and energy transition, where the role of citizens and consumers is at stake.