# Digitalization Processes in Distribution Grids: A Comprehensive Review of Strategies and Challenges
## 1 Introduction
Once the files are read and categorized, the dataframes in each category are concatenated into single dataframes (one for each category). Duplicates are then removed to ensure data integrity. A list of relevant keywords related to digital technologies is defined and the occurrences of these keywords in the articles' titles, abstracts, keywords, and IEEE terms is counted for each category. Following this, the percentage of articles containing each keyword was calculated to understand the proportional emphasis on different technologies. To visually represent the keyword counts and percentages, we plotted bar charts across the three categories: planning, operation, and market. Additionally, a report was generated to identify and count any duplicate entries in the 'Document Title' column for each category. Insights were derived based on the data analysis, and a detailed discussion on the challenges and potential solutions related to data complexity and system integration was provided. Finally, the procedure concludes after deriving insights and generating the necessary visualizations and reports. Our analysis employed a two-layered approach, enhanced by Python scripting for precision and efficiency. Initially, we categorized articles based on keywords like 'power distribution grid' and 'distribution network', supplemented with domain-specific terms: 'planning', 'operation', and'market'. To ensure the integrity and uniqueness of our dataset,we rigorously removed duplicate papers that appeared across categories. Following the keyword analysis, we examined the temporal distribution of these articles to capture the evolving focus on digitalization over the past decade. This investigation highlights an increasing trend for research publications on this subject, indicative of the escalating integration and significance of digital technologies in this field. Figure 1 illustrates the annual number of publications in this area from 2014 through to 2023, revealing that research interest has more than doubled over the past decade. The second layer of analysis involved a deeper dive into keywords representing various aspects of digitalization such as 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning', and 'Optimization'. This phase was critical for assessing how digital technologies are specifically addressed within the literature. The keywords were meticulously selected based on their relevance to digitalization, as determined by an extensive review of the literature and practical experience, ensuring that they closely align with the core aspects of digital transformation in power systems. Figure 2 reveals the prominence of 'Optimization' across all categories in our study, with 5870 mentions in planning and peaking with 9711 in operation, highlighting its crucial role in enhancing grid efficiency and management. 'Smart Grid' technologies also feature prominently, with nearly 1959 mentions in planning and 5294 in operation, reflecting the integral role of SGs in advancing grid intelligence. In the market category, 'Optimization' and 'Smart Grid' are significant again, accompanied by a notable focus on 'Blockchain' (617 mentions), underscoring a shift towards secure, efficient energy transactions. These data illustrate the diverse yet focused digitalization efforts within the power distribution grid, showcasing a strong trend towards integrating advanced technologies for improved grid operations and market interactions. Figure 3 depicts the percentage distribution of these keywords within each category, providing a relative measure of emphasis. Notably, 'Optimization' featured prominently, constituting 27.69% of the planning category and an even more significant 22.35% of the operation category, highlighting its critical role in enhancing efficiency and decision-making processes. In the market category, 'Optimization' also stood out at 23.32% of the total number of articles, demonstrating its pervasive influence across all sectors.