The next generation of electricity power systems will see the widespread use of "smart grids", actively managing the flow of power between energy providers and consumers.
They will use millions of smart meters to monitor and report the pattern of power supply and usage.
In a world likely to be ever-more reliant on renewable energy, the quality of that power needs to be monitored all the more carefully. Not only are renewable systems more complex, with many small sources of power - think rooftop solar cells - but they are more unpredictable, and irregular.
That requires the grid to be integrated with a data communication network, so every part of the grid can be monitored and analysed, in real time, and continuously adjusted to provide steady and efficient power.
Such constant, critical communication across a complex system is not without risk. Not only is it vulnerable to the quirks of any computer system, the communication systems provide greater openings for cyber attacks and human error.
So it needs to be secure. Research to that end is being undertaken across the worldand at Abu Dhabi's Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. It is estimated that smart-grid security will draw about Dh77bn in investment over the next five years.
Researchers in the institute's computing and information sciences department are working to bring us closer to being able to securely measure coherent smart-metering data, monitor local states, assess the components of the system and design efficient protocols.
This stronger security is needed to protect the grid against electricity thieves, hackers, business spies or even terrorists. Our study aims not only to spot vulnerabilities, but to design and develop a safe and reliable way of maintaining security.
That requires an efficient way of ensuring all messages within the system - metering data, power commands and status alarms - can be verified as genuine, and strongly encrypted so outsiders cannot abuse the data.
Privacy matters, too. Smart grids collect data about consumers' electricity use, monitoring it every 15 minutes. Researchers at Munster University of Applied Sciences have found that smart-meter monitoring systems can even detect which television programmes are being watched, by matching power consumption with the signal for each television channel.
So we are using applied cryptography to guard consumers' consumption habits. Utility providers know how much energy a group of users is consuming overall, but not exactly where or by whom that energy was consumed.
All of this should help Abu Dhabi meet its goal of sourcing seven per cent of its power from renewable sources by 2020. We are glad to be contributing to the technology and systems necessary to make that goal a secure and defensible reality.
Dr Depeng Li is a postdoctoral research fellow in computing and information science at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. Dr Zeyar Aung is an assistant professor in the same department.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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THE SPECS
Engine: 3-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 424hp
Torque: 580 Nm
Price: From Dh399,000
On sale: Now
Friday’s fixture
6.15pm: Al Wahda v Hatta
6.15pm: Al Dhafra v Ajman
9pm: Al Wasl v Baniyas
9pm: Fujairah v Sharjah
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
%20Ramez%20Gab%20Min%20El%20Akher
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStreaming%20on%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMBC%20Shahid%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
Memory: 8/12GB RAM
Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
Queen
Nicki Minaj
(Young Money/Cash Money)
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Zayed Sustainability Prize