Energy efficiency is at the core of the energy system: achieving high level of energy efficiency must be fundamental for a broader strategy addressing the policy challenges. Digital innovations can address multiple energy challenges by unlocking sectoral opportunities to accelerate efforts to reduce carbon footprint of the energy sector and to pave the way to a more sustainable energy future. However, energy systems' digitalization is a complex process with many interdependencies, which demands new security requirements, presents potential economic disruption, and requires robust preventive and corrective measures, including raising awareness of actors in a digitalized energy system.
As part of the 2023 STI Forum, this side event gathered experts from 49 countries from academia, scientific and technological community, business and industry, financial sector, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders active in related areas, to take a system-level perspective and explore the role of digitalization in helping to unlock opportunities ‘from source to use’ in the energy sector, along with side-effects and related challenges.