History

The Environment Department of the Velocity Interoperability Network is a young institution. It was established on 6 September 2026 to bring the energy use, the emissions and the physical resilience of the Network's sites under one authority. The milestones below record what was in place before the Department existed, what was done on the day of its establishment and what is scheduled to follow. They will be added to as the Department's work proceeds.

1. Before September 2026

   Energy and resilience managed site by site

   Before the Department existed, each member organisation of the Network managed the energy use and physical protection of its own sites. Six organisations had installed monitoring equipment of their own; none reported on a common basis, and there was no register of sites and no shared standard for power, cooling, flood or fire.

2. 6 September 2026

   Department established

   The Environment Department is formally established with responsibility for the energy used by the Network's physical sites, for the emissions that follow from it and for the resilience of those sites.

3. 6 September 2026

   Official website launched

   environment.gov.vin opens with the Newsroom and the Department's first published requirements.

4. 6 September 2026

   Reporting requirements and targets published

   The energy reporting requirements, the efficiency targets that apply to member sites and the reporting calendar are published.

5. 6 September 2026

   Resilience standards published

   The standards for power, cooling, flood and fire protection are published, together with the assessment procedure and the classes of incident.

6. 6 September 2026

   Register of sites opened

   The register opens with twelve entries transferred from the records of member organisations. Each organisation is asked to confirm its entries and submit a self-assessment by 31 October 2026.

7. 6 September 2026

   Monitoring network transferred

   Six monitoring stations installed by member organisations pass to the Department under a single operating standard, and the emission factors for 2026 are published.

8. Fourth quarter 2026

   First assessments and further stations

   Assessments against the resilience standards begin with the sites whose self-assessments have been received. Three stations complete commissioning and three more are installed.

9. 30 January 2027

   First quarterly reports due

   Reports for the fourth quarter of 2026 fall due, followed on 31 January by the first annual figures for power usage effectiveness and the low-carbon share.

10. 31 March 2027

    First aggregate figures

    The Department publishes its first aggregate energy and emissions figures for the Network, together with the number of incidents in each class.

Announcements are published in the Newsroom. For the Department's present responsibilities and organisation, see About the Department.