August 15, 2014 – IEEE has launched the Global Energy Forecasting Competition (GEFCom2014), which aims to unite data scientists from around the world to confront analytical challenges in the power and energy industry.

“We have developed a cutting-edge forecasting competition platform on CrowdANALYTIX.com. It’s now officially open to entries from interested teams. We have also created a LinkedIn group to connect the contestants and facilitate discussions during the competition,” explained Dr. Tao Hong, GEFCom2014 general chair and founding chair of the IEEE Working Group on Energy Forecasting.

Sponsored by the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) and organized by the IEEE Working Group on Energy Forecasting, GEFCom2014 will end December 15, 2014. Winning teams and institutions of the competition will be invited to present their methodologies and insights at the 2015 IEEE PES General Meeting in Denver.

The competition’s mission since its inception in 2012, explain organizers, has been to improve the forecasting practices of the utility industry; bring together state-of-the-art techniques for energy forecasting; bridge the gap between academic research and industry practice; promote analytics in power and energy education; and prepare the industry to overcome the forecasting challenges posed by the smart grid world.

The four forecasting tracks in GEFCom2014 include electric load, wind power, solar power and electricity price forecasting. Up to three teams from each track will be recognized as winners. GEFCom2014 will also recognize the non-profit institutions that have multiple well-performing teams.