THE IMPORTANCE OF IT SYSTEMS IN THE THERMAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTION PROCESS FOR THE FINAL CUSTOMER - PART 2.

Nowadays, in order to satisfy consumer's profits and the requirements of the environment, manufacturers strive for more ecological, modern and innovative solutions in the area of heat distribution. The paper presents the results of the examinations of the importance of information systems in the process of distribution of heat for final recipients. The main research problem of the paper was to determine the answer to the question of whether IT systems used in the process of heat energy distribution are important for the final customer. The related literature was used to prepare theoretical basis for author's own research. Next, the questionnaire survey was performed and a research tool was prepared (an online questionnaire). The on-line survey was completed by 232 people from Poland, among whom only 22 failed to fill in the questionnaire. The paper is composed of two parts. This part of the paper presents briefly the theoretical basis of the problem of distribution and used IT solutions. The results of the study were also presented: opinions of the respondents concerning the validity of the use of IT solutions in heat energy distribution. The first part of the paper contains a brief presentation of theoretical fundamentals of the concept of distribution and a reference of smart district heating networks to advances in distribution in the heating sector. The results obtained during the study in the heat energy sector were also presented in numbers compared to consumer awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]