Bangkok, 5 February 2026: ERIA, in collaboration with Thailand’s National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA), co-hosted a hybrid workshop titled ‘Cyber Resilience by Design: Securing Distributed Energy Systems’ in Bangkok on 5 February 2026. The event brought together policymakers, researchers, standard-setting bodies, and industry experts from ASEAN and Japan to advance regional dialogue on embedding cyber resilience into the decarbonisation and digitalisation of energy systems, with a particular focus on the Energy Resource Aggregation Business (ERAB).

Opening the workshop, Dr Nuki Agya Utama, Director for Energy Policy and Head of the Asia Zero Emission Center at ERIA, underscored the importance of cross-sectoral and cross-border collaboration to ensure that energy transitions under the Asia Zero Emission Community are secure, reliable, and resilient by design.

Keynote speakers highlighted foundational principles for resilient cyber-physical energy systems. Prof. Dr Jun Murai of Keio University emphasised the enduring value of open standards, autonomous and distributed architectures, and multi-stakeholder governance. Air Vice Marshal Amorn Chomchoey, Secretary-General of NCSA Thailand, outlined Thailand’s cyber-physical security framework for smart grids, addressing emerging threats such as orchestrated botnets, supply chain attacks, and malware, alongside national detection, response, and recovery capabilities.

A high-level panel discussion examined cyber risks and emerging threats in the energy sector through the lens of the ERAB ‘Security Triangle’, which links international standards, government guidelines, and research-to-business implementation.

• Lieutenant Colonel Narin Phetthong of NCSA introduced Thailand’s critical infrastructure protection mechanisms, including NSOC, Thai CERT, and Energy CERT.
• Mr Akinori Kahata from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) shared Japan’s experience in promoting ERAB with cybersecurity, highlighting a shift from capacity building towards the co-creation of real business projects with ASEAN partners.
• Dr Masaki Umejima, Convener at the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), emphasised the role of international standards in enabling interoperability and trust.

The final keynote of the morning session was delivered by Mr Hiroshige Muraoka, President of Nomura Research Institute Singapore, who discussed ASEAN’s market readiness and stressed the need for clear guidelines to support trusted Energy Io T remote control.

Afternoon sessions focused on research progress and practical implementation. Assoc. Prof. Dr Krerk Piromsopa of Chulalongkorn University provided an overview of cybersecurity fundamentals from an engineering perspective. Dr Masaki Umejima subsequently introduced ERAB as a newly approved international standard (ISO/IEC SRD 63443 ED1), scheduled for publication in 2026, which defines secure aggregation and control mechanisms for distributed energy resources and controllable loads.

Research teams from ASEAN presented progress on cyber-physical testbeds. Prof. Dr Selvakumar Manickam (Universiti Sains Malaysia) shared findings from laboratory-scale testbeds addressing vulnerabilities in open protocols such as ECHONET Lite. Dr Ary Setijadi Prihatmanto (Institut Teknologi Bandung) presented Indonesia’s research on integrating legacy and emerging standards to support decarbonisation and system availability. Dr Kalika Suksomboon and Dr Siriya Skolthanarat (NECTEC) outlined Thailand’s integrated cyber-physical testbed initiative, with a focus on interoperability, cybersecurity, and energy data privacy.

A concluding panel on business and operational perspectives featured Dr Warodom Khamphanchai (Alto Tech, Thailand), Dr Junya Yamamoto (OT Design Laboratory, Japan), and Prof. Dr Goi Hoe Chin (NUCB Business School, Japan). Panellists discussed real-world cyber incidents in power systems, the balance between security and openness, and the importance of closer collaboration among academia, start-ups, and infrastructure operators to translate standards and research into deployable solutions.

The workshop concluded with the presentation of ERIA’s FY2026 Action Plan on Cybersecurity for Distributed Energy Resources, reaffirming ERIA’s role as a regional platform linking policy dialogue, international standards, and applied research to support secure, resilient, and interoperable energy systems across ASEAN and beyond.