As I understand it, smart meters have two main uses - by the householder in understanding and managing their energy usage in the home, and by 'the utilities' and regulators in managing the grid, the demands on the grid and the energy generation inputs to the grid from renewables and from more traditional sources.
Although the funding model is not yet clear, it is clear that a lot of work (including work on a number of pilot projects under the auspices of the Technology Strategy Board) is happening to enhance understanding of many of the detailed technical, supply chain and consumer-engagement aspects, to feed into the design of the rollout programme. It is expected this will have some complementarity with the Green Deal initiative from Autumn 2012. Conference materials are expected to be available soon, and the SESIG is also promoting a new online resource - an Energy Base - an open, public-domain, wiki-style repository of relevant information for all to access, use and contribute to.
Below is one of the core overview diagrams referenced on the day - from a strategy paper issued by Electricity Networks Strategy Group (ENSG) in about 2009 but still very relevant today.