Coronavirus shutdown overcoming scepticism towards virtual code panels

The need to continue work throughout the coronavirus shutdown is helping to overcome any remaining scepticism towards virtual code panels, according to senior figure at Gemserv.

In line with the government’s advice, the code administrator told its staff on Monday to start working from home and also began holding panel meetings remotely.

“We’ve had panels meetings and forums et cetera where we have had people dial in remotely for some time now, but the difference between now and then is that these are wholly remote meetings,” said Miriam Atkin, director of major accounts at Gemserv,

“We had the technology to enable remote working and have been using but what we didn’t have was the wholesale adoption of it.”

Despite having panel meetings booked for the very next day, Atkin said: “It’s actually gone incredibly smoothly”.

She said panel chairs who are unfamiliar with the technology being used have been given “a little bit of extra support and training to make sure they comfortable with it before they’re launched into having to run some of the meetings”.

“It’s hasn’t slowed anything down,” she added.

Atkin told Utility Week she believes the crisis will “change peoples’ acceptance of running meetings remotely.”

“I think it’s fair to say in some quarters there’s been a bit of resistance, whereas others have been very keen to work remotely… It’s forcing everybody, including people who are perhaps a little bit more sceptical to try it and go with it, and I think they’ll find that it’s actually pretty slick.”

“I think it will change people, and as a consequence we may well find we do more and more of it going forward.”

Code administrators were already looking at remote access as a way of increasing engagement with the modification process, as signatories often struggle to devote the necessary time and resources.

Atkin said the shutdown may also “open minds” to other opportunities for digitalisation. She said Gemserv, for example, is developing tools to enable the company to conduct audits and security assessments without visiting a site.

She also praised the industry for pulling together to “make the best of what’s quite a difficult situation”.

As of this morning, Atkin said Gemserv had not yet received any proposals for code modification concerning the coronavirus but the company was working with Ofgem to see where flexibility may be required in the application of codes.

Gemserv is responsible for administering Master Registration Agreement, which is being combined with the Supply Point Administration Agreement into a single Retail Energy Code due to launch in April next year, as well as the Smart Energy Code.