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

Updated (Version 6.0) Member Fee Structure for Voting

Thank you to those that have participated and provided input in this process of arriving at the new proposed fee structure. Our member input period ran from February 25^th to June 1^st, 2019. We have listened to your input and made many changes while striving to address our current and projected cash flow needs. The fee structure for voting is Version 6.0. The member community has also provided good input on directions, value enhancements and new initiatives, many of which now appear on our plans and proposals.

Originally, we had planned to release the new proposed fees on June 3^rd with a vote at the meeting on June 20^th. However, we concluded that on a change as significant as this, we needed to connect with more members and give a more flexible opportunity to vote than a single event on June 20^th. Therefore, we have delayed our process for several days to put the following in place:

Release fees and updated information on June 12, 2019.
Develop a voting tool to the Home Page of our website along with a new Voting Information document.
Enable voting (on the website) on June 14 through to midnight (Eastern) on June 30, 2019

Next steps:

Download and review the summary presentation with the new fee structure for voting here. Feel free to forward this to others within your company.
Optionally download and review the full webinar presentation here. Feel free to forward this to others within your company.
Engage with (other?) decision makers and staff in control of the applicable budgets.
In addition, there is a new document, “Information for the Vote on Member Fees”, that will be available for download from June 14 to June 30 on our Home Page. You may wish to forward this document to others within your company to explain why the Users Group is moving in this direction.
Attend our final information session on June 20, 2019 at 4PM Eastern. See details below.
If you have questions, please contact us at: president@dnp.org
VOTE as soon as possible!

Director’s Recommendation:

“Considering the approval of a new leadership structure at the Annual Meeting in February 24, 2019, our desire to continue our current initiatives, the opportunity to provide more value for our members in the future and our recognition that the volunteer-only model is unsustainable, the Directors sincerely recommend approval of this vote.”

Final Information Session on Member Fees:

Date: June 20, 2019

Time: 4pm Eastern