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Level Up, Scale Up, Power Up!: A tale of continuous improvement and exponential growth

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“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

As a dedicated VIA follower, you know that this quote from Winnie-the-Pooh has been the inspiration and driving force behind our semi-annual company-wide Power Up! meetings. If you are new to our blog, here is a little background. 

When you are in the thick of day-to-day work, it can be hard to stop for a moment to consider that there might be a better way to accomplish a goal, project, or task. So, like Winnie-the-Pooh, we aim to stop bumping our heads. Twice a year we gather up the whole team to brainstorm ways to improve and innovate together.

In October, we hosted our largest-ever Power Up! featuring packed offices in Somerville and Montreal and one friendly competition for the most feasible and highest impact project. The theme, “Level Up, Scale Up, Power Up!” sure brought us to the next-level, and we’re here to break it all down for you.

Level Up: Continuous improvement

A month ahead of Power Up!, we asked our VIAneers to submit their ideas for projects that could accelerate and improve every day work. We saw tremendous potential with topics ranging from UX design roadmaps to GitHub Slack Integration to bridging quarterly ambitions and sprint tasks.

The official project selection committee combed through each idea and had the tough job of selecting just eight projects that would present the most feasible and highest impact concept at VIA. Next, the teams self-organized and the games began!

Each team had the opportunity to work closely with expert VIAneer coaches to fine-tune their projects and get ready for the ultimate demo. In front of an impressive line up of external judges, recruited specifically for Power Up! (check them out below!), teams delivered facts, research, and live demos. The judges, each with tremendous experience in startups, supercharged growth, and innovation, reviewed each project and rated them based on the value for VIA, technical readiness, risks and tradeoffs, and presentation skills.

Katie Wildman of PEO Digital

Shaun Chaudhuri, Partner at Westly Group

Kate Ravanis, COO of VIA

The winning team, GitHub Slack Integration, took home the prize of $2,000 USD in cold, hard cash. Their quick-win project aims to integrate GitHub notifications into Slack to streamline the code review process and cut down noise in the process for technical team members.

What did it take to achieve first prize? Let’s hear it directly from the judges: 

“The metrics you had were so digestible and attainable. It was great seeing specifically what the developer team could save and how you converted those metrics into saving the equivalent of four people’s time over the course of the year, it was such a tangible way to understand that the automation you are doing actually has an impact. It’s awesome!” – Katie Wildman

“In addition to the metrics, I really liked the roll-out plan, it was quite simple. The fact that you can test within a four hour period, which is such an easy deployment, really stood out to me.” – Shaun Chaudhuri

Potential time savings with the GitHub Slack Integration.

And finally, Kate Ravanis rounding out the feedback with true VIA values vibes:

“What set your project apart was how clearly you stated the problem you are trying to solve. Not everyone at VIA is living in the day-to-day with GitHub, but you demonstrated the problem in a way that was very easy for everyone to relate to. Huge shout-out to the GitHub Slack Integration team!”

First place wasn’t the only prize – the second place team, SQL and Data Explainer, received $500 in gift certificates, and the third place team, VIA Style earned a party for their fellow VIAneers.

The dedication we saw to improving processes at VIA was overwhelming. We are proud of each VIAneers contributions and how they live our values each day.

Scale Up: Exponential growth

As we mentioned, this was our largest-ever Power Up!, and when we say VIA has had exponential growth over the last year, we mean it. Our revenues grew 5x in 2023, 2x in 2024, and are on track to double again next year, in 2025. Now, that’s a lot of brain power in our corner and it’s not stopping any time soon! 

We attribute this growth to our people and special programs like Power Up! By taking the time to solve things more efficiently, smarter, collaborative, and innovative, each individual propels VIA in the direction of massive growth. 

Power Up!: Join our team and follow along 

If you are an individual who leads discussions with curiosity, values diverse perspectives, is eager to explore new ideas, and constantly seeks opportunities to grow and develop your skills, contact us! We are always looking for individuals who have what it takes to be a successful VIAneer to join our team. 

Follow along on LinkedIn and X for the latest at VIA.

 

Forbes dives deep into trailblazing relationship between U.S. Navy and VIA

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Tom Davenport, best-selling author and expert in AI and analytics, wrote a recently published article in Forbes titled, “Speeding Up Digital Acquisition Dramatically At The US Navy” that covered the evolution of procurement cycles at the U.S. Department of Defense. He opens up by explaining that historically this process has taken anywhere from five to fifteen years to complete, which is drastically different from the pace of AI capabilities today (an area the Navy has identified as critical).

The gamechanger? 

The Department of the Navy’s Program Executive Office (PEO) Digital simplified how they identify the best internal and external innovations and getting them to the field faster through an Innovation Adoption Kit that includes 15 different “plays,” including structured piloting for speed.

What started as a public RFP with over 100 companies applying in October 2022 turned into VIA being under contract with the Navy in May 2023. As VIA’s CEO, Colin Gounden, referenced in the article, he has been impressed by the major improvements in the speed of the procurement process. Echoing the same sentiment was Justin Fanelli, the Navy’s Chief Technology Officer and Technical Director for PEO Digital:

“We are simplifying and expediting how we identify the best internal and external innovations and getting them to the field faster and at better value.”

For the full article, covering more detail on how the Navy is working hard to make the process more efficient and how VIA is making the feedback and implementation loop shorter, visit Forbes’ website.

Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School, Bhaskar Chakravorti, chats with VIA about Digital Inclusion

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School is back in session. And, it’s pop quiz time!

Did you know?

  • ➡️ There are as many smartphones on the planet as there are people. 
  • ➡️ There are more smartphones than toilets and they are more accessible than clean water.
  • ➡️ This year marks the 50th anniversary of the internet. 

Despite the rapid growth in technology, there are still 2.5 billion people without access to the internet and 260 million fewer women have access than men.

Behind the scenes, ready to go live from VIA HQ!

Chatting about digital inclusion, Demi Moore’s Law and what it means to be a Digital Refugee!

These are a few of the gems from our VIA Visionaries interview with Bhaskar Chakravorti, recorded earlier this month. In this episode, we were able to ask Bhaskar about his work in digital inclusion including, why he chose it as his area of research, why digital inclusion matters to communities where food and shelter is scarce, and what businesses and individuals can do to make a difference.

So, what can we do about this?

We need to raise awareness, get more people and organizations on board to help solve these issues, and we need to give the tools and support to the creative individuals with the right digital solutions.

At the end of the interview, Colin asked Bhaskar if he had any words of advice or wisdom for what individuals can do in their lives or careers to improve digital inclusion and make a difference in that area. His response was inspiring (and a bit cheeky):

“My generation has handed their generation quite a mess. A mess in many dimensions. Which is bad news and good news. Bad news is, it’s a mess. Good news is, if you have the tools to clean up the mess, you will be employed forever. My job is to figure out how to give you the tools…

…there is a lot of hope, particularly for digital technologies in playing a very important and powerful role to clean up some part of the mess.”

As our devoted followers know, we are making communities cleaner, safer, and more equitable. Come join us in this effort and spread awareness for digital inclusion. Whether you are an enterprise, government agency, or an inspired individual, message us at info@solvewithvia.com. We are all in this together to make the world a better place. 

Be sure to follow along on VIA’s website and social media (LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Threads) for the latest.

About Bhaskar Chakravorti

Bhaskar Chakravorti is the Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School at Tufts University – America’s oldest exclusively graduate school of global affairs. He is the founding Executive Director of Fletcher’s Institute for Business in the Global Context and founder and chair of Digital Planet, one of Fletcher’s flagship research programs that studies the impact of technology on lives and livelihoods around the world. Bhaskar is the author of the Amazon best-selling book, “The Slow Pace of Fast Change: Bringing Innovations to Market in a Connected World” (Harvard Business Press) and is the creator of the widely-used Digital Evolution Index. He has been featured in widely-read journals and books including, Harvard Business Review, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, among others.

The Next Generation Internet: Data-Centric Access Control

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Manipulation, theft, misuse. These kinds of cyberattacks on data significantly impact both decision making and physical capabilities. Maliciously manipulated data examples include altering software and firmware updates, imagery and navigational data, and additive manufacturing (3D printing) files for replacement parts.

The National Security Agency (NSA), among other major entities, has been advocating for cybersecurity measures to augment traditional, network-centric security:

“The increasing complexity of current and emerging cloud, multi-cloud, and hybrid network environments combined with the rapidly escalating and evolving nature of adversary threats has exposed the lack of effectiveness of traditional network cybersecurity defenses. Traditional perimeter-based network defenses with multiple layers of disjointed security technologies have proven themselves to be unable to meet the cybersecurity needs due to the current threat environment.”1

DCAC identifies verification to gain access to downloading secure data

The “internet” is literally about getting data from one network to another “inter” = between, “net” = network. We believe that to address the security issues highlighted by the NSA, the next generation of getting data between users on different networks will be through data-centric security.

What does data-centric security look like? Luckily, VIA is already delivering solutions to this.

VIA’s “Data-Centric Access Control” (DCAC) combines decentralized keys from our existing enterprise wallet, fingerprinting, and manipulation detection using VIAsecurechain.

In short, VIA’s solution has multiple layers of increased protection.

👤 Users

Sender and recipient authorization and identity is re-confirmed at the time of data transmission using digitally signed verifiable credentials and verifiable presentations.

🛜 Network / Environment

Authorization is required before writing data to the recipient’s storage using a verification proxy.

📊 Data

Cryptographic hashes of received data are compared to the hashes of data sent.

🔍 Visibility / Analytics

All sending / receiving data-related transactions are stored in an immutable and auditable blockchain. 

⚙️ Automation and Orchestration

Verification, workflow, credential refresh, triggers and alerts are configurable through software.

VIA’s DCAC solution is hosted entirely on customer premises and / or a customer’s Virtual Private Cloud on both AWS, and Azure. 

Does this sound like something your enterprise needs? Drop us a note at info@solvewithvia.com – we’re here to support you.

Meet the Team: Client Delivery at VIA

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Followed along with VIA for some time now? Then, you’ll know, we LOVE for our friends, candidates, and network to meet our team! So, without further ado, we’re introducing you to a couple of our Client Delivery Team members: Becky McClements and Emily Matsco.

From what brought them to VIA to the pride of product ownership to what keeps them motivated on a daily basis, there is no stone left unturned. If you are interested in hearing what it’s like to be on the Client Delivery Team at VIA, this 3-minute video is a must watch!

That Tech Pod brings VIA’s CEO Colin Gounden back for rare second podcast interview on data privacy and energy

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Five-star rated podcast, That Tech Pod, which covers “data privacy, cybersecurity, eDiscovery, and tech innovations with heavy hitters in the industry,” interviewed VIA’s CEO Colin Gounden, for the second time. As hosts, Laura Milstein and Kevin Albert put it, “it is actually rare, you are maybe the third person we’ve brought back to the pod.”

In this episode, the focus was on data privacy and energy, while last time Colin was on the podcast, the conversation was centered around AI and Web3. In the beginning of the interview, Laura and Kevin revealed that they wanted to do an upcoming podcast on data privacy and energy, so they asked each other, “Who is the best person or expert when it comes to this?” and said bringing VIA’s CEO Colin Gounden back as an expert on this topic was a no-brainer. 

The nearly 40-minute podcast interview titled, “Everything You Want to Know About Data Privacy and Energy with Colin Gounden,” covered a range of topics including EVs, data privacy, DOE Justice40, and George Clooney! 

Of all the memorable quotes, it was when Laura asked, “What does electricity have to do with privacy? Why does privacy matter when selling electricity?” that we wanted to highlight for our followers here (at the 23:00 minute mark):

“You make a good point. The old joke is If your internet goes out it’s like 1978, when power goes out it’s like 1878. It’s a huge change. If you want your power to stay on, then you have to either have lots of power available all the time, which is harder because of EVs. Or you move the power at a moment in time. If you look at the consumption patterns, we have more than enough power at certain times of day. We produce more solar and wind at other times of day. Other times, we don’t. We don’t have a way of shifting power.” 

For the full response to the question and a laugh out loud moment when Laura asked, “Are you running [for president]? Because I’m voting for you, Colin!” visit That Tech Pod’s podcast page.

Swiss Federal Office of Energy shares successful completion of decentralized energy research

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Four years ago, VIA was selected for the world’s first demonstration of decentralized energy analysis, in partnership with leading Swiss utility, Romande Energie, global smart meter manufacturer Landis+Gyr, and Swiss research institute Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU).

The research project, known as KnowlEDGE, was driven by a Swiss law that only allows electrical meter data to be gathered once per day at a resolution of 15 minute increments. Similar regulations exist in many other jurisdictions to protect the privacy of individual residential meter owners. Real-time data from meters, however, are widely recognized for their ability to provide valuable insights for grid flexibility and reliability. 

To enable real-time grid analysis and maintain compliance with data protection laws, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy sponsored this first of its kind research. Together, with our industrial and research partners based in Switzerland, we successfully demonstrated the processing of real-time data across multiple Swiss household meters. The processing was never centralized and household data was never sent to the utility. Nevertheless, the results of the decentralized analysis provided valuable insights to enable predictions for grid voltage levels that are necessary to maintain grid reliability. 

You can find the summary results of the research written by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, here. To learn more about our contributions to the KnowlEDGE project and our commitment to Switzerland, visit our website or contact us at info@solvewithvia.com. 

 

Stan Byers, Cybersecurity Team Lead at USAID, joins VIA for largest VIA Visionaries event

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As devoted VIA Visionaries followers know, each remarkable guest shares a common mission with VIA: making our communities cleaner, safer, and more equitable. Stan Byers, Cybersecurity Team Lead at USAID, is no exception.

Stan plays a critical role at USAID, a U.S. government agency responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. In his role, Stan helps protect the most vulnerable communities against cyber threats. Given the importance of his work helping others, we were grateful to have the opportunity to meet in person alongside the VIA team and our audience members around the globe.

With 30 full minutes of engaging conversation in front of the largest in-person audience to date, Colin and Stan covered critical topics ranging from Stan’s background, stories from the field in Afghanistan and South Sudan, and why cybersecurity is a high priority for development and humanitarian aid organizations.

Before we get into the details, let’s give you, our readers, a quick snapshot of Stan’s remarkable career, so you can get to know him, too:

Stan and the VIA team spent some time chatting about the benefits of decentralization before the VIA Visionaries livestream.

Throughout his incredible career, Stan has made monumental strides in the realm of cybersecurity, emphasizing its importance in international security, policy, and technology. Currently, Stan is the Cybersecurity Team Lead at USAID. Leading a driven team of fellow cybersecurity experts for the last three years, Stan’s team is working with the White House, State Department, and the Department of Defense on how they think about cybersecurity as part of national digital transformation.

Before Stan was asked to join USAID to build the Cybersecurity Team, Stan worked at EY, handling geopolitical and economic aspects of cybersecurity while concurrently staying updated on the latest technology. In addition, he was a resident at TED in 2017. Stan was also instrumental in the Power Africa Presidential Initiative at USAID, providing a path for private investments and economic growth in Africa. His diverse experience, coupled with his ability to analyze and devise strategic cybersecurity initiatives, firmly positions him as a prominent leader in the cybersecurity space, specifically for the greater good.

Of all the memorable quotes and moments during the chat, it was when Colin asked Stan, “We first met at a Harvard conference related to blockchain and web3 technologies. Why are you interested in web3 technologies?” that we thought our readers would find as interesting as we did:

“I was there because I think this is something we need to be paying more attention to. We tend to spend a lot of time looking at AI and mobile money applications and a bunch of other things which are all incredible. But, not as much on how we can really use web3 and this decentralized approach. I think there is some real promise there.

In particular, what I’m seeing more and more, is that we need to rethink how we do data management quickly. From a development and humanitarian perspective, we work in a lot of places around the world. People shouldn’t think that these parts of the world that I’m talking about are kind of the anomaly, “oh the poor, destitute, unstable parts of the world.” Where we live right now is the anomaly. If you want to talk about using technology to improve the world, you have to talk about the low and middle income countries of the world where 85% of the world lives. This is not the norm, Somerville is not the norm.”

To hear Stan’s full response and how he thinks web3 and decentralization can help 85% of the world, watch from the 25:00 minute mark. Colin also comments that Stan’s response brings home the point of trust when it comes to a decentralized approach to data.

If you are enjoying this year’s VIA Visionaries guest speakers, we’ve got a treat for you: this summer we are bringing you a solid line-up of speakers ranging from image verification to sustainability. Follow along on VIA’s website and social media (LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Threads) for the latest.

President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology acknowledges VIA’s CEO Colin Gounden for his contributions to report on cyber-physical resilience

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In February, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) published a 50-page comprehensive report titled, “Strategy for Cyber-Physical Resilience: Fortifying Our Critical Infrastructure for a Digital World.” As described on their official website, PCAST is the “the sole body of advisors from outside the federal government charged with making science, technology, and innovation policy recommendations to the President and the White House.” 

The report, presented directly to the President of the United States, discusses the staggering increase in risks to our cyber and physical systems as they have become deeply intertwined (e.g., electricity, water, communications, among other critical systems) and provides actionable recommendations to protect them.

As our devoted followers know, VIA’s mission is to make communities cleaner, safer, and more equitable. Our experience working with the United States Department of Defense and Department of Energy along with our expertise in cyber and physical systems, caught the attention of Dr. Georgianna (George) Shea, Chief Technologist of Transformative Cyber Innovation Lab Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). We are grateful Dr. Shea selected VIA for an interview for the PCAST report to gain a deeper understanding of VIA solutions as they relate to the security of our nation. Dr. Shea remarked on her experience working with our team at VIA:

Dr. Georgianna (George) Shea

Dr. Georgianna (George) Shea

“In my role as Chief Technologist at a defense-focused think tank, I constantly seek solutions that address tomorrow’s threats. VIA has been an invaluable partner in this mission. Their deep expertise and collaborative spirit were instrumental in my work with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Transformative Cyber Innovation Lab.

One aspect of VIA’s work that has particularly impressed me is their exploration of web3 technologies, such as zero-knowledge proofs. Through our partnership with VIA, we have witnessed the potential of secure data sharing among various stakeholders while maintaining compliance with stringent privacy regulations. This perfectly aligns with our mission to advocate for advanced solutions that bolster national security.

I extend special gratitude to VIA’s CEO, Colin Gounden, for contributing to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology report titled ‘Strategy for Cyber-Physical Resilience: Fortifying our Critical Infrastructure for a Digital World.’ Additionally, I commend Haden Snyder for his forward-thinking approach to implementing some of the report’s recommendations through secure technical means.”

In addition to the interview, we’re also appreciative of the opportunity to review and provide feedback during the writing process for this authoritative report.

VIA is acknowledged among numerous other highly reputable organizations including the National Security Agency, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, Idaho National Laboratory, and many more. For those of you who are equally as committed to cybersecurity in critical infrastructure as we are, and are interested in discussing this topic further, send a message to us at info@solvewithvia.com. Let’s work together to protect and improve the lives and livelihoods of our fellow citizens.

Download the PCAST report and be sure to check out the last page for a special acknowledgement.

MIT Energy Initiative’s Graham Turk hosts VIA’s CEO Colin Gounden on location at MIT for VIA Visionaries interview

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The month of April is filled with reasons to celebrate our mission here at VIA: making our communities cleaner, safer, and more equitable. During April, we celebrate Earth Day, Drive Electric Earth Month, and one of our favorite VIA Visionaries interviews, which happened to be on location at MIT, with a dear friend of VIA’s, Graham Turk.

This VIA Visionaries interview was particularly special for us, it was the first time we were on location, and at MIT to boot. We’ve also known Graham for some time, dating back to when he was Head of Customer Care at Green Mountain Power, a company well known for providing 100% carbon-free electricity to 266,000 customers across Vermont.

Before recapping the interview, let’s dive into Graham’s impressive background.

Behind the scenes with Graham Turk and Colin Gounden at MIT.

Graham has dedicated his career to promoting clean energy through research, innovation strategies, customer care, and teaching. Currently, he is a Graduate Research Assistant at the MIT Energy Initiative where he studies the impacts of rapid electrification and explores tariff designs to promote the adoption of electric vehicles and heat pumps (an Earth Day great!). 

Prior to this, he held several roles at Green Mountain Power, where his innovative leadership led to pioneering programs in battery storage, electric vehicle charging, and flexible demand management. Earlier in his career, as a Fulbright Scholar at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, Graham conducted research on energy markets and built a small-scale prototype of a peer-to-peer energy trading platform. His commitment to sustainable practices and his ability to unravel complex energy challenges make him an exemplary leader in the clean energy space.

Chatting live on camera at MIT for 30 minutes, Colin and Graham covered an array of topics including why he chose to join a utility, how he sees renters participating in the energy economy, and all about his blog, The Power Trip which covers energy market pricing (go check it out!). Early in the interview, Colin asked Graham about the project he was most proud of at Green Mountain Power and his answer reinforced why we consider him a VIA Visionary on this Earth Day:

“We were able to work with the State House in Vermont. They had an old diesel generator in their basement and instead of replacing it with another diesel generator for backup, they put a battery inside of it that we were able to use for similar purposes, like bringing down costs for all customers. So, the Vermont State House at that point was the first state house in the country to have batteries for all of its emergency loads. A fun little trivia question, if anyone ever asks that at Thursday trivia!”

Colin chimed in with another fun fact: 

“It’s a good observation. Government buildings, in some instances, can be the first trials for lots of things. I want to say, The White House had solar panels put on it in the 70s, some of the first solar panels, because they could!”

Watch the full video below to hear Graham talk about other projects he was proud of at Green Mountain Power, including one with Tesla!

We’re thrilled to showcase Graham’s passion for clean energy and fixing utility rates for our communities as part of our “What’s your mission?” Earth Day series. Thank you again, Graham and the gracious folks at MIT, for hosting our first on location VIA Visionaries livestream.

Follow along on VIA’s website and social media (LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Threads) for the latest on how we are living our mission each day and to keep an eye out for our next VIA Visionaries interview. 

Fast and Curious 7: Verified Computation using ZKPs

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After the success of our Fast and Curious blog series on blockchain and ZKPs, we’ve had many questions from our customers about how we balance privacy and verification. So, watch the special, 2-minute Director’s Cut video below to learn how we accomplish this!

Below is a transcript of the video:

Welcome to a Director’s Cut, extra edition of our series on ZKPs. 

We had terrific interest in our original series from last year. Today, we’re going to address one question that came up from a customer about balancing privacy and verification. 

In our previous videos, we used the example of verifying things like carbon used by a vehicle. We explained how a ZKP could be used to keep the data private, like, time, date, location, and owner of the vehicle, and yet, still prove its carbon usage. 

The question our customer had was: How do I know the calculation was done correctly, especially if I can’t see the data? 

That’s a good question! 

In most cases, verification and privacy are at odds. The traditional way that you verify something is you audit it and look at all the data, but that’s the opposite of privacy. 

So, let’s take an example. 

The U.S. and Europe have different ways to calculate carbon. How do I know that a company applied the right standard or any standard for that matter to compute its carbon for a specific vehicle? Well, in this case, the calculation or the math is public and our latest generation of ZKPs can be used to verify the calculations. 

So, as long as the math is not a trade secret or proprietary algorithm, any third party can independently verify that the calculation is performed as promised without having to share the original data and without having to redo the whole calculation again. 

This is particularly valuable when not only is the data private, but also when there’s a lot of data, like billions of rows of data, or the calculation is pretty complicated. So, you have a lot of computation power that might be needed and you don’t really want to redo the whole data set and the calculation again.

This kind of verified computation is a new feature in the latest generation of ZKPs that we’re using. And, for a lot of things like carbon and energy verification, it’s pretty useful. 

Feel free to reach out to us at VIA to learn more about how we’re applying ZKPs to create a no trade-off solution for verification and privacy for big enterprises.

Can’t get enough of these Fast and Curious videos? Well, we want to hear from you! What topics should we cover next? Drop a note in our inbox to let us know: info@solvewithvia.com.

 

Arnab Chatterjee, Postdoctoral Researcher at EMPA, joined VIA’s CEO Colin Gounden for a chat about Swiss energy systems

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If you tuned into our seventh VIA Visionaries livestream of 2024, you’ll know that our interview with Arnab Chatterjee was packed with things we value here at VIA: Energy efficiency! Smart buildings! User behavior! AI! Switzerland! If you happened to miss it, you’re in luck, we’ve got a solid recap of the interview and the full recording below!

Though this was our first time meeting Arnab in person, we’ve chatted virtually and have met a lot of the intellectually curious and energy-engaged folks at EMPA over the years.  So, naturally, we were excited to get Arnab in front of our team of VIAneers in Somerville and devoted followers tuned in around the world, to hear about his research at EMPA, which is focused on user behavior and energy systems. As you know, this particular topic is of interest to us – we recently made it to the final round of the ABB Scaleup Challenge 2024 in the Smart Buildings category, where we will showcase Skylight’s carbon reduction potential in Switzerland.

Here is a little background on Arnab:

Arnab Chatterjee and Colin Gounden discussing Swiss energy systems.

Arnab Chatterjee and Colin Gounden discussing Swiss energy systems.

Arnab is a postdoctoral researcher at EMPA’s Urban Energy Systems Lab. Through his extensive experience around the globe, including research roles in Italy and his current work in Switzerland, he has cultivated a deep understanding of building performance, energy systems, and user comfort. In particular, Arnab is focused on incorporating user behavior into developing smart buildings, which includes occupant comfort and how they interact with automated building technologies. In addition, Arnab’s current work involves testing new technologies for practical applications, including notable projects like SWEET LANTERN, a Swiss Government funded, 8-year initiative to support the transition to 100% renewable energy.

Chatting on a beautiful morning at VIA HQ for nearly 30 minutes, Arnab answered questions ranging from how buildings contribute to energy and carbon emissions, to the way advances in AI will impact energy, and how user behavior compares in Switzerland versus the U.S. One of our favorite moments was when Colin asked Arnab to talk a little more about user behavior. And, we were intrigued to learn something new:

“Current building standards are a bit too restrictive on the temperature set points, creating issues on two different levels. First, we are adding too much operational energy usage by creating an environment that is too narrow and second, it doesn’t let the metabolic activity or the metabolic rate of the human body vary. This is not good in the long term.

What is the solution? 

Why not try to create an indoor temperature that varies a bit more? So, for example, having 21℃, and moving constantly for heating, why not let it vary from 18℃ to 21℃ [64℉ to 70℉]? So, we can kill two birds with one stone. We can save energy and let the metabolic exertion of the human body happen.”

To hear the full question and response, and Colin’s hilarious reaction “Any time people say the office is too hot or too cold, I’ll tell them, it’s for your metabolic rate!” – watch the video below!

We’re thrilled to have hosted our seventh VIA Visionaries livestream with such a passionate individual. As Colin said in the interview, “we have a value called love in = love out, if you love what you do it shows, and I think it clearly shows that you love buildings.”

Follow along on VIA’s website and social media (LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Threads) to hear more about our role in the LANTERN project and to keep an eye out for our next VIA Visionaries interview. 

From Zug to Davos: A whirlwind week in Switzerland

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Last month, VIA’s CEO, Colin Gounden and Client Delivery Lead, Becky McClements ventured across the Atlantic to meet our Lead Software Research Architect, Madjid Aoudia in none other than, Switzerland 🇨🇭!

The trio had an action-packed week that is well worth the recap for our devoted VIA followers. So, who is ready to take an adventure with us from Zug to Davos?

Day 1: Zug

If you are new to VIA’s blog or just need a refresher, there are many reasons why we chose Switzerland as our European headquarters: clean energy, data privacy, and blockchain, our wheelhouse! Once our team landed in Switzerland, it was off to our office in Zug by train. Madjid and Becky also took the opportunity to snap a picture of our logo on the outside of the office, too!

Madjid Aoudia

Madjid Aoudia ready for his trip to Zug.

Madjid Aoudia & Becky McClements

Madjid and Becky McClements at VIA’s European headquarters.

Then, we met with one of our energy customers for a full-day workshop at our office, followed by dinner with executives in the utility space.

Day 2: Zurich + Lucerne

We kicked off day two in: Zurich! Our team met with government entities to discuss how we can support their data privacy initiatives. With a new data privacy code of conduct coming into effect in January, two agencies reached out to VIA for our expertise in data privacy. We look forward to continuing the conversation and deepening our support for Swiss data privacy efforts.

Later that day, we made our way to Lucerne, home of the HSLU iHomeLab. As we mentioned in our blog from 2022, “The year in Switzerland,” HSLU has been one of our research partners in energy and data privacy since 2018. We were thrilled to see the research they have been doing in energy efficiency and IoT and to have our Expansion Manager, Ray Neubauer join us!

VIA’s team

VIA’s team alongside the iHomeLab team.

Colin showing off some of the fantastic innovations at iHomeLab

Colin at iHomeLab.

Finally, to cap the night off, we had dinner with executives in the electric vehicle and automotive space. Stay tuned for more on this front!

Day 3: Davos

The highlight of our week was traveling to Davos for the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC)’s 7th Annual Blockchain Central Davos event, hosted in parallel to the World Economic Forum. Colin was invited to speak on the panel, “Blockchain and AI Convergence for Enhanced Trust and Transparency” alongside Tanvi Singh, Managing Director, Global Digital Assets Technology Lead, UBS, John deVadoss, Co-Founder & CEO, NeuralFabric.ai, and David Treat, Board Chair, GBBC; Senior Managing Director and Global Metaverse Continuum Business Group Lead, Accenture.

Paola Valencia, Director of Operations, & Strategic Partnerships, Home of Blockchain.swiss, was the moderator, who did a fantastic job of keeping the conversation flowing and asking terrific questions. If you are short on time, don’t miss our favorite moments at the timestamps from the recording below:

  • 9:23: Watch Colin introduce himself and VIA in Swiss German!
  • 19:08: Paola says she was thrilled to see Colin’s name on the panel because she wanted to hear how VIA has been using AI and blockchain with actual companies and how those use cases impact humanity.
  • 35:40: Colin provides his thoughts on the next big thing in the next six months related to AI and blockchain.

Thank you again to GBBC! The whole event from start to finish was world class and we are grateful for the opportunity (and the high quality pictures below 😉).

GBBCColin

Day 4: Wrap up!

After the eventful day in Davos, not to mention the fact that we ran into people we know from Boston, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. (the Americans were out in full force!), we closed out our trip by meeting with another automaker and more government officials in the evening.

As we reflect on the week, we wanted to acknowledge a few small things that make a big difference. Everywhere we went, there was next-level hospitality, people made time in any way they could to meet with us, and embraced VIA with open arms. All of these points keep us coming back (and the spectacular scenery isn’t too bad either!).

This trip laid the groundwork for what is sure to be some exciting announcements this year 📣.

Davos

View of the mountains during our train ride.

Fast and Curious 6: AI Edition

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The Fast and Curious blog series you know and love is back! This time, we are bringing you all things AI. Watch the 3-minute video below to learn how we break down the enterprise barriers to GenAI adoption (or you can read the full transcript that follows).

Below is a transcript of the video:

Welcome to Season 2 of Fast and Curious – the AI Edition. Everyone, everywhere is talking about Generative AI and Large Language Models. Having said that, large enterprises have not widely adopted Generative AI, and for some very legitimate reasons.

In this series, we’re going to talk about three of the big enterprise barriers to GenAI adoption and wait for it, how we’ve solved for them. So, let’s get started.

Number one on our list of GenAI blockers is: Intellectual Property Restrictions.

The basic problem is that, how can I know whether the text or responses that we’re getting back from an AI system are okay for us to use? That is, how can I be assured that the AI is not using some source material that might have a copyright restriction or an IP restriction because that might make me liable as a result. The flip side of that is, how can I be guaranteed that whatever I send to an AI model won’t be used by the model and sent to someone else at some other company? 

The press about employees inadvertently doing just that has been pretty scathing, so everyone and every company will want to avoid that.

That is the number issue that we have seen that gets talked about. While it’s the biggest issue, it’s not the only one.

Number two on the list of concerns is: consistency.

Experts talk about GenAI as being stochastic models. What they mean by this is that there is some randomness in the results that they generate. Sometimes AI can even generate false answers. The kinder euphemism is to say that the models hallucinate. But, a wrong answer is still a wrong answer. If you are an expert in the field, you may be able to figure out how to tell the difference. The advantage of these systems, available to everyone, is that you don’t have to be an expert, so errors going unnoticed are a real risk.

Last but not least, number three is: cost or availability of the system.

GenAI models use GPUs generally rather than CPUs, and that is expensive and it’s in short supply. Maybe I should say, they are in short supply, so they are very expensive. This is the reason that NVIDIA became a trillion dollar company last year. Even big players like AWS and Microsoft Azure have a scarce supply of GPUs, so you can imagine how in demand they are.

To recap, issue one is IP Protection, issue two is Consistency and fighting hallucinations, and issue three is Cost.

If you are an enterprise CIO, CISO, or Chief Data Officer trying to figure out how to provide GenAI to your employees that all of your users are clambering for and are trying to overcome these barriers, watch out for the next episode of Fast and Curious about these solutions.

Can’t get enough of these Fast and Curious videos? Well, we want to hear from you! What topics should we cover next? Drop a note in our inbox to let us know: info@solvewithvia.com.

U.S. Department of Energy’s national lab concludes VIA’s software has the potential to become the industry standard to help EV fleet managers meet decarbonization goals

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research lab, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), known for their nationwide leadership in electric vehicle (EV) batteries and extensive multi-decade research on charger reliability, conducted a rigorous evaluation of VIA’s carbon tracking proofs and confirmed it has the ability to become an industry standard in helping EV fleet managers meet decarbonization goals.

In a recently published article by INL, “The proof is in the software,” INL’s team discussed in detail how the evaluation reviewed VIA’s mathematics (zero-knowledge proofs), code, and working software, and concluded:

“The mathematical approach and the software worked, and it has potential to become an industry standard for providing credible, verifiable, and privacy-sensitive carbon data.“

The DOE is interested in cyber secure ways of verifying data used to accelerate the transition to clean energy. INL was appointed by the DOE as the laboratory of choice to evaluate how well VIA’s software works to verify sensitive carbon data during charging events without revealing private data such as EV charging time, date, location, and owner. Speaking of the process, VIA’s CEO Colin Gounden said:

“Working with INL on this evaluation was an exceptional experience for us at VIA. Not only did they have expertise in zero-knowledge proofs, they asked thoughtful questions and were very responsive. Validating that VIA has the potential to become one of the most trusted sources for verifying carbon data while keeping information private and secure, has been invaluable.”

VIA is currently working with large fleets in the U.S. and Switzerland, totaling more than 54,000 vehicles. VIA aims to expand the number of fleets to help EV managers worldwide meet their decarbonization goals.

If you are interested in learning more about the DOE evaluation, carbon verification, or how we can help your team achieve decarbonization goals, contact us!