61850 IOP
Witness Training – COMING SOON
About This Event
The IEC 61850 Interoperability (IOP) event brings together utility and industry stakeholders to validate real-world interoperability between IEC 61850–enabled products. Participating vendors connect and test their devices, gateways, and software with other manufacturers’ equipment to confirm correct implementation, uncover edge cases, and resolve issues that can impact reliability in the field. The result is higher-quality integrations, fewer surprises during deployment, and stronger confidence when systems go live in critical grid environments.
IOP testing is hands-on and collaborative. It focuses on practical interoperability—how devices actually behave when engineered and integrated alongside other vendors’ solutions—while creating a structured environment to document findings, improve configurations, and drive continuous improvement across the ecosystem.
Witnesses attend to observe interoperability in action, deepen their understanding of multi-vendor IEC 61850 integrations, and gain insight into common challenges and best practices. For utilities, system integrators, labs, and other stakeholders, the event offers a rare opportunity to see implementations working together, ask informed questions, and bring back practical lessons that help improve project outcomes.
Registration | 61850 IOP Event
Step 1 - Billing
Pay online by credit card or by invoice
For an invoice, quote or receipt, click HERE.
Note: Corporate Membership is required for all UCA Member pricing – click HERE to become a member
Payment terms: UCA invoices are Net-30 (payment due within 30 days of receiving invoice)
Early Bird pricing: Discounted pricing is available until 30 June 2026
Late registration deadline: 30 Aug 2026, 11:59 PM (US Pacific Time)
Processing times: Online payments 1-2 business days; Quotes 1-2 business days; Invoices/receipts 5-10 business days
Step 2 - Know your role
Participants: Vendors participating in the IOP with their products (2 people per registration, no maximum # of products)
Additional Participants: Participant registration includes 2 people; use this if you have 3+ team members (adds your 3rd member)
Witnesses: Utilities, students, non-vendors, or other approved individuals
Step 3 - What's included
All registrations include:
Daily lunch
Daily snacks (two breaks per day)
Coffee and water (sparking + still)
UCA-branded polo shirt
Printed certificates for tested Participant devices
Printed Professional Development Hours (PDH) certificates
For Participants, Additional Participants and Witnesses-only:
Full access pass to the event space
For Witnesses-only:
Special training session on Monday, 12 October 2026 (more details coming soon)
Important to know:
*Witness training is not part of the 61850 Boot Camp – Boot Camp is not a part of Witness training
*61850 Boot Camp is an add-on (optional) purchase, and does not include IOP event access
Step 4 - Purchase
For online payments, click a price to select your registration. You’ll be sent to our secure payment portal (Shopify).
For invoiced payments, click HERE.
Participants | ||
| Early Bird Registration (deadline is 30 June 2026) | Late Registration (1 July – 30 August 2026) | |
| UCA Corporate Member [2 people] | $8,800.00 USD | $13,200.00 USD |
| Non-Corporate Member [2 people] | $13,200.00 USD | $17,710.00 USD |
| UCA Corporate Member [1 person] | $8,000.00 USD | $12,400.00 USD |
| Non-Corporate Member [1 person] | $12,400.00 USD | $16,910.00 USD |
| Click a price to pay online via credit card, or click HERE to generate an invoice. | ||
Additional Participant or Witnesses | ||
| Early Bird Registration (deadline is 30 June 2026) | Late Registration (July 1 – 30 August 2026) | |
| UCA Corporate Member [1 person] | $1,600.00 USD | $2,700.00 USD |
| Non-Corporate Member [1 person] | $2,600.00 USD | $3,800.00 USD |
| Click a price to pay online via credit card, or click HERE to generate an invoice. | ||
About This Event
The IEC 61850 Interoperability (IOP) event brings together utility and industry stakeholders to validate real-world interoperability between IEC 61850–enabled products. Participating vendors connect and test their devices, gateways, and software with other manufacturers’ equipment to confirm correct implementation, uncover edge cases, and resolve issues that can impact reliability in the field. The result is higher-quality integrations, fewer surprises during deployment, and stronger confidence when systems go live in critical grid environments.
IOP testing is hands-on and collaborative. It focuses on practical interoperability—how devices actually behave when engineered and integrated alongside other vendors’ solutions—while creating a structured environment to document findings, improve configurations, and drive continuous improvement across the ecosystem.
Witnesses attend to observe interoperability in action, deepen their understanding of multi-vendor IEC 61850 integrations, and gain insight into common challenges and best practices. For utilities, system integrators, labs, and other stakeholders, the event offers a rare opportunity to see implementations working together, ask informed questions, and bring back practical lessons that help improve project outcomes.
More Information
Points of Contact
Billing inquiries: [email protected]
Questions about participation: [email protected]
Questions about UCA Memberships: [email protected]
Shipments: [email protected]
Key Dates
- Early-bird pricing deadline: 30 June 2026
- Late registration deadline: 30 August 2026
- Witness training (not 61850 Boot Camp): Virtual – date and time TBD; In-person – 12 October 2026 (morning, room # TBD)
- On-site participant set-up (for Device Participants): 7–11 October 2026
- Testing event (includes Witness attendance): 12–16 October 2026
- NOTICE: 61850 Boot Camp (not Witness training): A Boot Camp training (separate from Witness Training) will not be offered at the 2026 IOP event. You may contact [email protected] for more information.
- NOTICE: 61850 Users Group Meeting: A Users Group meeting will no longer be held at the IOP testing event. Refund will be distributed. Please contact [email protected] for more information.
Venue
- What is IEC 61850? An international standard for substation and grid automation that defines how intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) and systems model data and exchange it reliably across networks.
- Why interoperability matters: Multi-vendor environments are the norm; interoperability testing helps reduce integration risk, commissioning delays, and unexpected behavior in the field.
- What gets tested at an IOP: Typical focus areas include MMS client/server exchanges, GOOSE messaging, sample values (if applicable), time synchronization behavior, datasets/report control blocks, and configuration interoperability (SCL/ICD/CID) depending on the test scope.
- Real-world engineering focus: Testing mirrors how projects are engineered and integrated—devices are configured, connected, and validated in realistic combinations, not in isolation.
- Structured but collaborative: The IOP provides a controlled environment and schedule to connect with multiple vendors, document findings, and retest after adjustments.
- Confidentiality and professionalism: Participants are expected to follow event rules for respectful collaboration and appropriate handling of observations and results (e.g., no unapproved sharing of sensitive test details).
- Who should attend as a witness: Utilities, consultants, system integrators, labs, universities, and anyone who wants a clearer view of IEC 61850 interoperability and multi-vendor engineering practices.
- Value for witnesses: See multi-vendor integrations working live, learn common pitfalls and best practices, and bring practical takeaways back to your organization.
- Recommended background: Helpful (but not required) familiarity with IEC 61850 basics—logical nodes, data models, SCL files, and common communication services.
- Boot Camp option: If offered, the Boot Camp is a fast way to build the foundational IEC 61850 knowledge needed to get maximum value from the IOP week.
- Attendance expectations: Space, power/network resources, and test slots may be limited—register early to secure participation and ensure your team is ready.
- What to bring (participants): IEC 61850-capable devices/software, engineering tools, relevant SCL files (ICD/CID/SCD), test plans/use cases, and the right technical staff to configure and troubleshoot.
- What you’ll leave with: Clearer confidence in interoperability behavior, practical lessons learned, and actionable fixes that improve quality before deployment.
This event is presented and hosted by UCA Users Group.
