GIREVE joins the EV Roaming Foundation this year as a Full contributor. The EV Roaming Foundation is an organisation that comprises the board of the OCPI protocol. Since 2018, GIREVE has been compliant with two open protocols for the connection of operators to its platform: the eMIP protocol that GIREVE created, and the OCPI protocol. Data cleansing, partner alerting in case of quality problems, online follow-up of disputes, billing, connection supervision: a protocol is at the heart of all services that GIREVE’s platform provides. Jean-Marc Rives, GIREVE’s CTO, explains why GIREVE chooses open protocols and gives us details about OCPI.
Why do you promote your services through open protocols ?
Open protocols make it possible to reduce the cost of connection to GIREVE’s platform. For an operator that is already OCPI compliant, there is no extra cost to connect to GIREVE. For an operator that is not compliant yet, the investment is worth making because you can use the connection again for other purposes. Cost reduction is key for e-mobility, to make it sustainable and develop it. It should benefit users.
Beyond the scope of roaming, the core topic of next years’ debates will be smartcharge.
You implemented OCPI on your platform but you also joined the OCPI board back in 2018. Now you are a Full contributor of the EV Roaming Foundation. How would you explain this engagement?
The OCPI protocol is still rather new and it evolves in an ecosystem that is not yet fully mature. We need to find ways to make the standard reliable and efficient while enabling innovation and progress. We need to find a balance between standardisation and innovation.
The creation of the EVRoaming Foundation is a great step to strengthen OCPI and make it sustainable, while guaranteeing an open, collective and balanced governance. This organisation will have to improve and structure contributors’ works to focus on key topics and improve both their representativity and their efficiency.
Finally, we have been using the OCPI protocol extensively for 2 years. After exchanging several millions of messages daily, we can notice a few things that need improving. We are able to offer technical improvements to enhance the quality of service and reduce complexity such as IT costs. That’s why GIREVE joins the EV Roaming Foundation as member.
You mention the evolution of the protocol: what will be the next innovation projects according to you?
We are very interested in enlarging the protocol’s functional scope. Key topics include “multitenants” issues, exchange safety, 15-118, finance-related operations (CDR, billing, invoicing and disputes, payment, etc.), IT efficiency and processing load reduction. Beyond the scope of roaming, the core topic of next years’ debates will be smartcharge.
