Use cases for the new CIM standard for exchange of schematic display layouts

CIM standards for network model exchange have been around for some time, providing a vendor neutral standard by which utilities can exchange models of their respective networks in either operations or planning contexts. These exchanges take place repeatedly as updates are made to network models to reflect changes in the real systems. Users of network analysis also rely on schematic or pseudo-geographic presentations, which also change as the network models change. Recently, IEC TC57 WG13 has developed a companion standard to CIM model exchange that allows utilities to exchange these schematic layouts as well. The standard makes a distinction between the complete specification of a graphic display and the `layout' of the display that is covered by the standard. This is an important distinction and this paper discusses some of the key use cases for which the new display layout exchange was designed.