Digital monitoring as mechanism for developing energy balance of national economy

Abstract

The paper looks into global trends in development of digital information and communication technologies within the concept of Industry-4.0 as well as means for their introduction into public administration and regulation practices. Present-day problemsof monitoring energy flows and developing the energy balance of national economy are reviewed. Some directions for improving an institutional as well as organizational and methodological support to monitoring of national energy flows on the basis of contemporary digital technologies are substantiated.

The Concept of development of digital economy and society of Ukraine for a period of 2018-2020 outlines some prospects of transition to a radically new paradigm of the socio-economic development of our country: from a predominantly raw-material type of economy, mainly focused on consumption of natural resources, to high-tech industries which efficiency is achieved owing to the use of digital processes and resources produced with the help of IT technologies and up-to-date communication means. A Plan of immediate actions in implementation of the above Concept provides for development of solutions for encouraging the applicationof the Industry 4.0 technologies for efficient (rational) consumption of power at industrial facilities.

Digital monitoring of energy and relevant financial flows, which will allow in the first place to develop a reliable energy balance of national economy and assess the efficiency level and directions for its structure improvement, is to become the basic information and communication platform for such solutions. The second, not less important, result which can be achieved once a digital monitoring system is introduced at the national level is creation of conditions for objective determination (rather than 'economic justification' by monopolists) of prices for energy resources as well as housing and utility services as the basis for effective regulation of activities of natural monopolies and development of real competition in energy resource markets, which, in its turn, will raise the level of social trustin economic reforms of authorities in the field of power engineering and energy efficiency.

The digital monitoring system comprises many aspects of handling the issues of energy efficiency and energy saving, which will become the object of future studies on the basis of a by then new information platform, specifically: elaboration and introduction of a package of unified organizational, technical, communicative, information, software means and techniques for formation of all kinds of energy balances and monitoring of its indicators according to common standards as well as development of automated software and hardware tools for accounting and control of energy resource consumption and use of housing and utility services. Only the employment of up-to-date information and communication technologies will allow to improve transparence, reliability and comparability of consumption and payment accounting of fuel and energy resources on a real-time basis and, based on the above, to develop high-quality energy balances at all levels of the territorial productionhierarchy of administration.