Innovative Technology for Reliable and Secure OT Communications

Our Mission

We actively develop and support measures to improve interoperability and cybersecurity in DNP systems by developing technologies and standards, implementing a conformance program, and providing education to the industry.

Activities of the Users Group

DNP3 has grown to be the most widely used protocol for electric transmission and distribution communications in North America and other regions of the world, and is a named standard for DER communications. DNP3 is also broadly adopted in adjacent industries such as water / wastewater, transportation and the oil and gas industry.

The DNP Users Group (DNP-UG) owns and maintains DNP3 and supports our user community and the industry by enhancing and promoting DNP3 (Distributed Network Protocol), also known as IEEE Std. 1815^TM. Our members include utilities, suppliers, consultants, and individuals (including students). Many of our initiatives support greater interoperability between supplier’s products and systems and/or enhance cyber security. On-going refinements also add new features and time-saving capabilities which are then included in the next update of IEEE 1815. Our growing library of Standards, Application Notes, Guides, Security Notices, and Technical Bulletins provide essential information for our members. The leadership team and technical team members provide periodic educational opportunities including tutorials, white papers, and conference presentations. Our Conformance Certification Program manages the Conformance Test Review process and publishes conformance certificates which are publicly posted. The DNP-UG is governed by our Board of Directors in accordance with our bylaws. The technical teams are involved with four different groups as follows:

Technical Committee
Cybersecurity Task Force
Test Management Committee
Test Procedure Committee.

Recent and current developments include new:

Update to the IEEE Std. 1815TM standard.
DER communications standard – IEEE 1815.2TM (draft) – joint effort with MESA.
Secure Authentication v6 (SAv6).
Authorization Management Protocol (AMP).
Test procedures.
Device profile guide.
Expanded Conformance Certification Program (CCP).

Membership in the Users Group

Join us! To participate and receive DNP-UG member benefits and services including the latest documents and updates, utilities and vendors are required to join and remain members. For more information go to dnp.org or email our team at admin@dnp.org

DNP Users Group content including, postings, documents and presentations that refer to IEEE or IEEE standards, solely represent the views of the DNP-UG and do not necessarily represent a position of either IEEE, IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA), the IEEE Power System Communications and Cybersecurity Standards Committee, or the applicable IEEE Working Groups.

The DNP Users Group is a California nonprofit mutual benefit Corporation, operating pursuant to United States IRS code 501(c)(6).

Announcements

Update on DNP-UG COVID-19 Response – We Need you to Re-engage, Renew and/or Join

<<If you know of others that need to see this announcement, please forward it. Thank you!>>

<<If you have already renewed or joined for 2020, thank you!>>

On June 5, 2020 we posted an announcement called “DNP-UG COVID-19 Response”. There have been 565 views of that post, so it was been widely read! You can still read the post below.

In essence, the post indicated that the UG would, upon request, extend website access for a further 90 days beyond the usual 30 days (120 days total) to July 31, 2020, for members unable to renew their memberships on time. The message has clearly been received as we have seen a precipitous drop in membership renewals since that time.

The problem now is that the level of renewals is far below a sustainable level for the UG. For example, the membership fee income for October was approximately 1/10 our target level. We have already cut back on the spend for our cyber security program and test procedure developments and will have to consider even more painful measures soon, that may impact the ability of the UG to function effectively. We have a history of burning out some of our best volunteers and need to avoid a repeat of that.

Our dedicated (and smart) volunteers continue to invest over 4,000 hours per year in wide array of essential tasks including updating the DNP3 / IEEE Std 1815 protocol, designing the next generation of security specifications, developing test procedures, managing our Conformance Test Review process and engaging with many related standards development teams. Last week (November 2-6, 2020) our Technical Committee met virtually for six hours per day, Monday to Friday. Most weeks, at least two if not more of our committees are meeting.

We need your help on this. Please renew or join as soon as you are able at here.

If you would like to get more involved or would like more information please contact me directly at president@dnp.org or our support team at admin@dnp.org.

Finally, I hope you can attend our Update Webinar on November 12^th. See the announcement for more details.

Sincerely,

Ron

Ronald Farquharson, President, COO on behalf of

the Directors, DNP-UG

DNP-UG Update Webinar - November 12, 2020; 3PM Eastern DNP Users Group 2021 AGM - Save the Date - Deferred to May 12, 2022