An interoperability-by-design approach for designing smart grid solutions

Interoperability is at the heart of the digital transformation of Smart Grid, and any methodology that advocates this concept would help develop Smart Grid solutions cor-rectly. Some of the major challenges in the way to achiev-ing a seamless integration with a high interoperability ma-turity level are not following a well-defined methodology. This work presents one such methodology - the AIT (Vir-tual Lab) VLab, which is based on the principle of interop-erability-by-design. The principle advocates that interop-erability must be considered from the very beginning of the solution design and should be followed through all the life-cycle phases. It works by defining a common view of the system first so that the functional objectives of the solution can be aligned with what needs to be implemented. This methodology is being used in the Horizon 2020 project SENDER. Some exemplary use cases from the project will be presented. The results from applying the methodology show enhance workflow, bridging the gap between the im-plementation and requirements, and improved communi-cation to name a few.