This article discusses recent trends in Smart Grid technology. Three selected aspects are (1) distributed information technology (IT), used for smart metering and multi-agent based controls, (2) big-data, resulting out of metering, sensors and other IT-enabled sources of information, and (3) an intelligent demand side, where demand response serves as contribution to grid services. New elements in the grid, most notably large numbers of fluctuating renewable energy sources, and new functionality like markets make it necessary to introduce methods and technologies from other domains that already faced such changes.