New and digital technologies have been unlocking opportunities to collect, manage and analyse large amounts of data in a relatively cost-effective way. Still, given current challenges, it is prudent that their use for energy statistics is complementary to traditional methods, until issues like data governance, confidentiality or data representativeness are more widely addressed.
This paper aims at exploring the role of new and digital technologies for energy end-use data collection. It reviews applications, strengths, and weaknesses of the major existing technologies, classifying them into three broader categories depending on their purpose: data collection, data management and data analysis.
The analysis is a starting point for energy statisticians and energy efficiency experts across countries in order to guide the design, and/or advise on the implementation of new technologies for data collection based on the case studies reviewed and on the analysis performed.
The research stems from the G20 end-use data and energy efficiency metrics initiative, co-led by the International Energy Agency and the French government through its energy efficiency agency (ADEME), building on established work in developing energy efficiency indicators to monitor energy efficiency progress globally
