I'm at ConnectivityWeek 2009, a conference on the convergence of IT and energy, in Santa Clara. Juval Lowe, partner at IDesign, was the morning's kick-off keynote. He recently spoke at this same convention center, at the huge SD West developer's conference, on the same topic. (See my video interview with Löwe.)

What Lowe calls a "shoe shine moment" is the point in a trend where everybody is getting involved. (In the 1920s, when Joe Kennedy started getting investment tips from his shoe shine boy, he knew the speculative stock market had reached its peak.) Energy is having its shoe shine moment, he says, noting the mass migration of tech industry executives (SAP, PayPal) and VC firms (Kleiner, others) into cleantech.

The government is un-leveling the playing field, and everyone is shamelessly jumping in, Lowe says. He recently met with Microsoft, traditionally a second mover in new technologies. Microsoft already is serious about getting a piece of the smart grid opportunity. Cleantech startups are highly concentrated here in Silicon Valley, which says something about the role of the IT industry in shaping the energy movement, Lowe says.

"The advent of the internet tipped the communications technology silo on its side, turning it into a layer" Lowe said. Now, the energy silo is tipping and becoming available to other layers of technology.

As a result, Lowe says the "hippie" perception of "green" will give way to the $20 trillion (his estimate) business reality. Software engineers must learn energy because that's where the jobs and money will be in a few years.

Energy and social change

As an interesting interlude, a "Transformation Panel" discussed how trends in human interaction will affect energy use and management. The panelists -- two social media startups, a technology consultant and an investor -- shared what seemed like common knowledge in the IT industry, emphasizing the extent of the overlap of IT and smart energy systems.

Robin Carey of Social Media Today is using blogs to initiate conversations about sustainability. Social media engagement will speed up the process of pushing society toward sustainability, she says. Carey asked whether government involvement will thwart the innovation and private investment. By a show of hands, the audience said not.

Karen Holtzblatt of InContext designs web sites and other products by applying human factors. She says that as the integrated home system (media, energy, security) grows more complex, designers must consider what people actually care about knowing. "We're all going to rush downstairs to get on the web to see what our laundry machines are doing?" she asked. Consumers want convenience without relinquishing autonomy. "We want control of our lives."

Ben Randal of OuterArc agrees. His company uses social media to compare voluntary green initiatives by businesses and consumers. He says product managers must consider not only what users need, but also what they want.

Robert Poor of NBT Ventures, and co-founder of wireless networking company Ember, wants to give consumers information to manage their energy usage. "We can't wait for a generational shift to cause change in behaviors," he says. "Sustainability for sustainability's sake isn't sustainable." People are resistant to change, especially when it means giving something up. The societal element is important because people change their behavior when they see their friends and neighbors changing, Poor says. (See my video interview with Robert Poor.)

Bob Metcalfe keynote

Robert Metcalfe, venture capital investor and inventor of Ethernet, acknowledged the widespread "reinvention" of former internet and IT executives into clean energy experts. "The energy experts disdain internet tycoons who are jumping into energy, because they don't think we know enough about the law of thermodynamics," he says.

Metcalfe says the "hardening of the categories" is historically part of the long process required to make a boom like the internet. Silos such as voice, video and data were hardened by policy, but they converged when the internet became public. Echoing Lowe's earlier comments, Metcalfe says the energy silo is softening. We can build the "energy net" without the internet's problems of security, quality of service, and economics, he says.

"Green" is not a good term for the clean energy movement, he says, because it has too many anti-business connotations. "Environmentalism" would be more acceptable, but not ideal. Even if global warming were solved, we would still need cheap and clean energy. Metcalfe proposes "Blue."

"When we solve energy, we will have squanderably abundant cheap and clean energy," Metcalfe says. "No amount of conservation and sweater-wearing will solve energy." During the Q&A, Robert Poor asked Metcalfe to clarify that comment. Metcalfe said efficiency will be important, but we ultimately need to develop large-scale sources of clean energy.

"Energy is the next big thing," Metcalfe says. "The internet is a damn good lens to look at it with. We need to bring internet thinking to the smart grid." He says we're not facing a shovel-ready grid that is more of what we have today. "Think of energy as the internet's next big killer app. The internet revolutionized commerce, publishing, mail, voice communications, broadcasting and social interaction. Now it can revolutionize energy."