| news4all | 2016 | December 19, 2016 |
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Dear readers,
OMS-Group had a very productive Annual General Meeting in November. Some of the many topics discussed in Bonn are included in this newsletter. 2016 was a very busy year for OMS-Group, as you can see in Werner Domschke’s summary of the most important milestones we have reached in 2016. We are looking forward to exciting new challenges in 2017! Best regards, Charles van Dyck Head of the OMS working group Marketing Email: charles.van.dyck@planet.nl |
OMS at the European Utility Week
OMS-Group received great response at the European Utility Week in Barcelona. About 50 industry experts visited the OMS stand during the event. We had a prominent booth in the Energy Storage area of the trade show, surrounded by numerous booths of member companies that presented their OMS-certified devices. OMS-Group’s main topic was the OMS certification system. Certification of devices according to OMS version 4 will begin in spring 2017. Carsten Lorenz of Elster GmbH and Dirk Costrop of Eandis cvba presented the Open Metering System at the Hub Sessions of the European Utility Week. |
Presentations of the OMS Working Groups
Twenty-two representatives from 19 companies attended the Annual General Meeting of the OMS Group that took place on 23 November in Bonn. Among many other topics on the agenda, the OMS working groups presented their work results. WG 1 „Primary Communications” put three OMS specifications up for discussion. Volume 2 „Primary Communication“ Version 4.1.1, which integrates changes by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), was released unanimously by the General Meeting with the annexes A, B, N. The focus of this version was the integration of parts of the technical directive OMS-TR-01 and many technical improvements. Annex E, "Compliance with BSI TR-03109“, could not be released yet, because the confirmation by the BSI is still pending. An update of Volume 1, Annex A „Glossary“, and the new Errata List were approved unanimously. Last year, WG 3 „Testing Norm” had invited more members to participate in the working group. This appeal has fallen on fertile ground, so that test specifications could be developed rather quickly. The test specification for OMS Generation 3 has already been tried and tested. The first certified devices have been listed on the OMS homepage. The test specification for unidirectional OMS Generation 4 devices has been published. WG 3 is currently testing the test tool for these devices. Certifications of unidirectional Generation 4 devices should be possible as of February 2017. The working group’s next step is to develop the specification for bidirectional OMS Generation 4 devices. The working group also applied for funding to develop the test tool for these devices. The General Meeting decided on funding the project with an amount of EUR 700 per member. This request was accepted with one disapproval and one abstention. WG 5 “Marketing” reported on the priorities for promotion activities in 2017. Deputy chair Jörg Fischer gave an outlook on the planned marketing actions. The plan is to start the year with a speech at the E-world energy & water. WG 5 intends to secure another presentation slot at the Metering Days 2017. The Board has provided the budget for a booth and a speech at the Utility Week 2017. Furthermore, WG 5 will organize the relaunch of the OMS website and support the OMS newsletter. In general, WG 5 and the Board have worked out a more international orientation of the OMS-Group. Important points of reference are the EU mandate M/441 and the European Meter-Bus standard EN 13757. |
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Data Transfer from OMS to Other Systems 
At the OMS-Group General Meeting, the Executive Board recommended a New Work Item Proposal (NWIP) on “Data Transfer from OMS to Other Systems”, especially to home and building automation systems. The board suggested a new OMS working group that would develop a proposal as the first step in the standardization process. The companies Hager, Ingenieurbüro H.Lertes, KNX Association, Qundis, Solvimus, Weptech, and Wiener Netze are supporting the NWIP. Other member companies are welcome to join the initiative. The next steps will be discussed at the next board meeting in January. Two member companies have already communicated their additions to the project definition. The Executive Board will include these suggestions in the further discussion.
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Year in review: Milestones at OMS-Group
OMS-Group’s Executive Board has decided to report regularly on the ongoing development of the group. The following review of the year 2016 was written by Werner Domschke, Spokesman of OMS-Group e.V. Legal Status of the OMS-Group The most significant event for OMS-Group in 2016 was our entry into the German Association Register. The resolution had been passed at the annual General Meeting in November 2015. The confirmation of registration by the Association Registry Court was received on June 16, 2016, and OMS-Group e.V. was registered under the number VR18964 in the Cologne Association Register. Cooperation At the last annual meeting of 2015 a partnership was formed between OMS-Group and the Interoperable Device Interface Specifications (IDIS) Industry Association. As a result, IDIS would like to extend the existing gateway of IDIS electricity meters so that they can be used to transfer other metering data and interoperability is ensured. Several employees from the IDIS Association and OMS-Group joined forces in a taskforce last year to identify possible use cases in order to define requirements according to IDIS and OMS specifications. The first results were presented at the Annual General Meeting in November 2016. Political Communication Since 2011 there have been attempts to come up with practical guidelines for implementing EU legislation for smart metering in Germany. The “Law on the Digitization of the Energy Transition” was finalized in September 2016. OMS-Group contributed several templates and lectures to this legislation, recommending that this law include all consumption meters of a house (including, electricity, gas, water, air conditioning and heat) to be integrated into one measuring system. Standardization OMS-Group specified a modern, interoperable and secure communication system, the OMS specification, on the basis of the M-Bus standard EN 13757, supplemented by other definitions. OMS-Group members have continuously reported back the results of this work to CEN/TC 294, the Technical Committee of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) which is revising EN 13757 – the last parts will be published next year. Thereby, the revision of EN 13757 has continuously been strongly influenced by OMS specifications. Thus, a major contribution was made to the dissemination of the OMS model of interoperability in Europe. Thank You! The Executive Board of the OMS Group would like to thank all members for their support! Our special thanks go to the heads and deputies of the working groups, who have contributed to the success of OMS-Group with many ideas and great commitment. |
Happy Holidays!
Our best wishes to you and your family for a happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous New Year! We hope you’ll find time to relax and enjoy the holidays. See you in 2017! |