Business resilience, embedding sustainable business practices and utilising AI and innovation to deliver efficiency gains and smooth the path to the organisation’s net zero target are among the key priorities for Ian O’Flynn and the teams he leads at Gas Networks Ireland.
O’Flynn is director of business services with Gas Networks Ireland and in that role is responsible for delivering vital business services that power the organisation including IT, data, supply chain, financial support services, continuous improvement and facilities management. Ian is also the executive sponsor of Time to Talk, the mental health and wellbeing initiative in Gas Networks Ireland, and he is supporting Movember to raise awareness about men’s health issues.
Business resilience means ensuring the continuous and reliable operation of the organisation in the face of physical, cyber or operational disruption. That includes business continuity, the physical security of Ireland’s key energy assets, and defending those assets against cyberattacks.
“As an energy utility company we need to ensure a reliable, continuous flow of gas to our customers,” O’Flynn explains. “Resilience is at the heart of what we do. We are responsible for safeguarding the security of supply of energy.”
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Cybersecurity is of paramount importance. “We have identified this threat as one of the greatest operational risks to the business. We have invested significantly in our cyber team and cyber defences over the past number of years including building defences to prevent attacks as well as implementing solutions to help us recover in the event of a successful cyberattack. We have a cybersecurity operations centre that monitors key business systems 24 hours a day.”
Gas Networks Ireland’s operations are deemed an essential service and, consequently, the business is governed by the EU Network and Information Security (NIS) cybersecurity directive. “This directive places a responsibility on us to manage risk and includes mandatory reporting requirements and keeping the National Cyber Security Centre appraised of what’s happening. We are obliged to collaborate and share information and intelligence with other essential service providers.”
Physical security involves protecting the network and other assets as well as the people working on it and using it. “It’s about security of supply. We need to ensure gas is flowing to where it is needed. We also need to protect our staff to ensure they are safe and to protect the public as well. We invest a lot in physical security to make sure our sites are safe.”
He points out that the organisation also falls within the scope of the EU Critical Entities Resilience Directive. This creates an overarching framework that addresses the resilience of critical entities like Gas Networks Ireland in respect of all hazards. “It applies to us, and we need to continually enhance our resilience. We need to be fully compliant with the directive by 2026 and we are well advanced on that journey.”
Ensuring business continuity is the overall goal. “Our job is to make sure that critical services continue uninterrupted,” says O’Flynn. “We have plans in place for severe weather events and we had a pandemic response plan long before Covid. We have a plan to make sure our critical services remain available even if our IT systems are unavailable. These continuity plans are supported by our knowledgeable and committed staff across the business. We regularly hold rehearsals and simulations for crisis events. We work with other State bodies to practice what to do in the case of a Statewide emergency. For example, if one of the gas interconnectors was damaged, we look at how to cope with the significant impact on electricity generation.”
He believes all companies, and energy companies in particular, need to embed sustainable business practices in their day-to-day operations. “We need to minimise the environmental impact of what we do. We work tirelessly at that. Our ambitions in this area are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Gas Networks Ireland was just one of 20 companies selected as SDG Champions by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, and we were delighted to be the first energy company to be selected. Sustainable procurement is a key enabler to build resilience and transparency in our supply chain. Our supply chain team works with all of our partners to embed sustainability practices. The Gas Networks Ireland team recently won sustainable procurement team of the year at the National Procurement Awards. We are really proud of that external recognition.”
The organisation is a founding partner of the Irish Supply Chain Sustainability School, a collaboration between clients, contractors and suppliers who have a mutual interest in building the skills of their supply chains. Based on the successful UK programme, the school is a free virtual learning platform on sustainability. “The aim of the school is to spread knowledge of sustainable practices among organisations working in the built environment sector,” O’Flynn says. “Gas Networks Ireland has considerable expertise in this area and we are committed to helping our supply chain to become more sustainable. It benefits us to bring everyone on the journey with us. Sharing our knowledge and expertise helps us to reduce our own carbon footprint and helps small Irish companies to meet the sustainability requirements of their customers.”
Innovation and artificial intelligence (AI) will play key roles in the continuing transformation of the business. “Innovation is crucial to our goal of being a resilient, efficient and sustainable energy company,” he explains. “When you think about increasing energy demand and the requirement for sustainable renewable energy, there is a substantial journey ahead of us to transform the gases flowing through our pipes to biomethane and hydrogen”.
While acknowledging the hype around AI, he says it is a hugely important technology. “It can streamline and automate repetitive tasks, analyse and interpret complex data, and generative AI can create new content by itself. We are already well advanced on our AI journey. We have rolled out the Microsoft Copilot AI tool for 100 users to see if it can help streamline tasks for them. We have trialled chatbots to assist our staff in searching for information from technical manuals, and we have used it for the analysis and verification of complex data that could have taken years for humans to carry out. Generative AI did this analysis in six weeks, and this particular piece of work was named AI project of the year by the Analytics Institute.”
Use of AI at Gas Networks Ireland is governed by the EU AI Act. “This act sets the boundaries for the use of AI. We have recently developed an AI usage policy which has the concept of responsible AI and emphasises the need for humans to be involved. As we look forward to how it can transform the organisation, it’s very exciting. It can do things like image analysis of satellite photographs to help us identify and eliminate methane emissions. We already use AI in our Cyber Security Operations Centre to spot cyber threats and anomalies. However, AI technology is also being used by the bad actors, so we need to ensure our internal controls are robust enough to defend against deepfakes and so on.”
For all its utility, the technology does have its downsides, he cautions. “Humans are biased, and AI can be even more biased. You need to be very careful how you use the information and insights you get from it. You also need to be conscious of the fact that these AI tools consume huge amounts of energy. We’ve got to ensure that this power can be generated in a sustainable way. That comes back to the steps we can take to deliver a carbon neutral energy network.
“By replacing natural gas with renewable gases such as biomethane and green hydrogen, we will be able to deliver a net-zero carbon gas network by 2045 and, in turn, reduce emissions across key sectors that are critical to the Irish economy.”