Assignments for Creative Brand Management Track
Adcenter:“Pitch an invention the world truly needs.”
We don’t have power. We don’t have enough of it. The state of Maharashtra feels the pinch of 4000 MW of power, a 12% shortage which is estimated to double in a decade [R16]. This is the home of the nation’s financial capital Mumbai where load shedding power cuts ranging from 3 to 8 hours a day are killing the city’s productivity. Besides that, it’s hot, it’s humid and one wishes to get at least the fan working if nothing else.
Shortage of power is a major problem, not just in India, but worldwide. Nature is probably not in a position to match up to man’s ambitions and provide the power and energy we demand. The invention I pitch is not an alternative fuel or source of electricity. What we probably need, besides alternative energy sources, is a system to manage our resources better, in this case the management of electricity.
Intelligent Electricity (IE)
Today power sockets are connected to wires that convey electricity, obviously. With IE a new component of power sockets would be a channel that carries digital information (as the USB does to some extent today). To incorporate IE it would be imperative for manufacturers of electrical appliances to make their products IE compatible.
With IE, a central system and a device would be able to share information. When switched on, a central system would recognise whether the device is an Air Conditioner or a fan and know how much power the device would require.
At a micro level, for example at home, a central hub would integrate all devices. Information regarding the power usage of different devices could be collated in the central hub allowing people to manage their usage better. The owners of the house could access the database of the central hub through digital devices, like a computer. With all the information at their hands, the house owners could regulate the usage of different appliances. IE would also allow users to remote control their devices and set schedules. Most of the advantages of digital medium would be available to IE.
The benefits of IE are greater on a macro level. On a macro level, all electricity cables for a city, town or a large region would have to adapt to IE. With IE laid out to a whole city, each unit, for instance a house, an industrial facility, an office would be identified independently on the computer systems of power companies, in a similar way that IP address helps on the internet. This would help power companies:
- In understanding power consumption patterns in better detail, at a higher level of accuracy
- Provide preferential treatment in crisis. As the recognition of appliances would be possible only heavy power guzzlers could be denied power rather than a blanket cut to a particular region
- Pin point users and offer customised power usage packages. IE would make it easier for units that wish uninterrupted power, a hospital, a house nursing a patient on life support, a business, have it in exchange for a higher price.
- IE would help against electricity theft as any unauthorised attempt at access could be recognised and denied.
IE would be a patented technology and marketed through licences to governments and power companies.
