## 3 Future Work
### Prosumer Communities  
#### 3.1.1 Prosumer Definitions, Objectives, and Motivations  
This section outlines the need for further research in the area of prosumers' objectives and motivations. Such studies would need to be interdisciplinary or multi-disciplinary covering social, political, technological and economic perspectives. For example, understanding prosumer psychology would be critical in understanding what motivates their behavior. Motivation can be triggered using economic incentives or penalties. Technological advances may be required to realize such social and economic objectives. To achieve this, we need to understand several elements at a conceptual level before developing detailed solutions. This understanding will enable us to grasp the big picture and attain a wider perspective of the opportunities, issues, and challenges surrounding a given field of interest. As the prosumer community based smart grids continues to evolve at an accelerated pace, it is essential to gain a conceptual understanding of the new technologies, the emergence of related institutions, the different actors and systems involved in the energy sharing dynamics, and their shifting of roles and responsibilities [19]. Once we acquire this conceptual understanding, we will be equipped with the necessary knowledge and awareness to evaluate the impact of these elements towards the deployment and advancement of sustainable PCGs and other similar concepts such as ICESs, EPCs, and CECs. Quantitative evaluation of empirical data would pave the way for a deeper understanding of the value of PCGs and ICESs, how they contribute to an efficient energy value network, and how they affect different actors and the wider energy system [18]. The tools identified for the planning and analysis of ICES are helpful for further development of ICES and design sustainability models and deployment options for ICES [21]. Moreover, ICESs need to adapt and enable further technological and social innovation as the energy landscape continues to change alongside the emergence of new technologies [19]. Two emerging technologies that will greatly impact the society are blockchain and big data. Although several studies already exist which examined how these technologies will transform the future of smart grids, these topics could be further investigated. One study presented a simple local energy market running on a private blockchain and recommended to further examine the suitability and technological limitations of blockchain-based energy market design [108]. Another study found that the use of blockchain technology in demand side management is suitable for matching energy demand and supply within the smart grid [109]. A separate study proposed a system using blockchain based smart contracts to allow secure energy exchange between prosumers [110]. Furthermore, we explored big energy data management in smart grids which include the different steps to process the heterogeneous data [34]. The study presented various challenges such as secure data communication, bad data detection, cost optimization, quality of service, data reliability, visualization, and integration [34]. These challenges could provide guidance for future research directions in this field. Consequently, these quantitative outcomes and clear understanding of the changing energy landscape can help establish suitable governance structures, policies, incentive strategies, and support schemes (drivers for adoption and success) to overcome challenges and difficulties in the planning, operation, and advancement of ICESs [18; 19]. Therefore, another future research direction is examining and identifying the suitable policy recommendations that will lead to effective and sustainable energy exchanges within the smart grids. Likewise, a closer examination of various cultural, economic, political, social, infrastructural aspects among different actors and institutions is necessary for future energy planning [22].