diff --git a/utils.cpp b/utils.cpp
index e0bf6f4..6f2bfe4 100644
--- a/utils.cpp
+++ b/utils.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "utils.hpp"
 
-#include <iostream>
+#include "defines.hpp"
+
 #include <phosphor-logging/log.hpp>
 #include <sdbusplus/server.hpp>
 
@@ -74,5 +75,46 @@
     return lowByte;
 }
 
+/** @brief Encodes a keyword for D-Bus.
+ */
+string encodeKeyword(const string& kw, const string& encoding)
+{
+    if (encoding == "MAC")
+    {
+        string res{};
+        size_t first = kw[0];
+        res += toHex(first >> 4);
+        res += toHex(first & 0x0f);
+        for (size_t i = 1; i < kw.size(); ++i)
+        {
+            res += ":";
+            res += toHex(kw[i] >> 4);
+            res += toHex(kw[i] & 0x0f);
+        }
+        return res;
+    }
+    else if (encoding == "DATE")
+    {
+        // Date, represent as
+        // <year>-<month>-<day> <hour>:<min>
+        string res{};
+        static constexpr uint8_t skipPrefix = 3;
+
+        auto strItr = kw.begin();
+        advance(strItr, skipPrefix);
+        for_each(strItr, kw.end(), [&res](size_t c) { res += c; });
+
+        res.insert(BD_YEAR_END, 1, '-');
+        res.insert(BD_MONTH_END, 1, '-');
+        res.insert(BD_DAY_END, 1, ' ');
+        res.insert(BD_HOUR_END, 1, ':');
+
+        return res;
+    }
+    else // default to string encoding
+    {
+        return string(kw.begin(), kw.end());
+    }
+}
 } // namespace vpd
 } // namespace openpower