· Hub for the NS Community ·
Dear community members,
Fidimco is an important real estate manager in Belgium and thus plays a major role as a property manager for what is called an association of co-owners. This concerns the management of a building in co-ownership on an administrative, technical, financial and legal level. The work is subject to many changes in all these areas and is more and more digitized.
Fidimco decided some time ago that it wanted to take its digital transformation into its own hands. NSX has developed a solution in close collaboration with the users, which makes it possible to integrate all activities into one application and which makes it possible to quickly onboard new buildings and customers. This solution is now in full use. Everyone, especially Fidimco itself, can be proud of that.
To support new curtailment features, we developed a new expander bundle that makes controlling meters far more reliable, called the action queue expanders. Previously, multiple workflows could try to open a DLMS connection at the same time, even though only one connection is allowed. This led to failures, retries, and in sometimes hundreds of stacked commands. The result was delays, congestion, and unreliable behaviour, especially when commands needed to run every minute while the connection setup itself could take longer.
Our new solution introduces a single orchestrator per meter. It ensures only one command runs at a time, manages the connection safely, and schedules follow-up actions when needed. All queued actions are processed within one open connection. All DLMS-related expanders now use this coordinated flow, ensuring consistent execution without the risk of overload.
The result: no more endless retries, no more blocked meters, and much faster, more predictable tests for installers. Thanks to this, high-frequency curtailment control is now a stable part of the Cast4All product offering.
The flexible data hub or Synergrid Flexhub is aimed at enabling energy providers to realize the flexibility potential of the grid in Belgium. It integrates the existing applications of the various distributors, and performs the necessary computations and controls that enable the transmission system operator to perform the necessary settlements and clearances. NSX has built and maintained the Flexhub over the last 6 years very successfully.
In order to scale up and support the further and continuous expansion in the flexibilization of the electricity market in the next 8 years, Synergrid has decided to award this transformation activities to a consortium of Delaware, Nvisio and NSX. This enriches NSX's solution with the domain knowledge and delivery experience of Delaware and Nvisio. NSX is pleased with this partnership in which we feel that the NS approach is endorsed by important IT integration specialists in the field. The project has now passed the transition phase and the flywheel is fully turning.
How can we build web front-end applications that do not crumble under their own complexity as they grow? In their newly published article, Jan Slifka and Robert Pergl tackle this question head-on. They present an innovative approach that blends the rigor of Normalized Systems Theory (NST) with the clarity and reliability of pure functional programming to create front-end systems that remain stable even as requirements evolve.
Their methodology is brought to life through Elm, a statically typed functional language designed for maintainable front-end development. By mapping Elm’s architectural patterns to NST’s theorems, the authors show how teams can design software that is modular, predictable, and resilient to change. The paper goes beyond theory. A real-world production Elm application serves as a compelling case study that demonstrates how this approach reduces technical debt, streamlines evolution, and supports long-term sustainability.
This work opens new doors for the NS community by illustrating how NST principles can guide the engineering of rich and interactive systems, not only back-end or enterprise architectures. It is an inspiring read for anyone striving to build software that stands the test of time.
Reference: Slifka, J.; Pergl, R. Application of Normalized Systems Theory to pure functional code to achieve sustainability of web front-end applications. Journal of Computer Languages. 2025, 85 ISSN 2590-1184. DOI: 10.1016/j.cola.2025.101346
On Sunday, November 23rd, the University of Antwerp Science Park was all about science and innovation. Over 300 visitors discovered how entrepreneurship, research, and talent converge on this vibrant campus. As the developer and driving force behind the park, POM Antwerpen not only provides the necessary infrastructure but also connects businesses, knowledge institutions, and talent.
NSX, a university spin-off that puts scientific research on NormalizedSystems Theory into practice in the world of software engineering, enthusiastically participates every year. Explaining to children how modular systems behave when you want to implement a change is enriching. Through play, we see that achieving dynamic modularity isn't easy.
But you won't be surprised that children quickly understand the damaging ripple effects that occur when you want to adapt and improve systems, and what you can do about them.
