What is a Digital Twin & Why is it so important?

Stop where you are. Now, grab or put your hand on the closes tangible object. Do you know where that object came from? The story of that object?

Are you holding a phone or sitting at a computer? What’s your favorite program? Do you know how that program was made?

We think very little about where our products come from, what research went into the designing that product, the effort put into manufacturing that product, additional developments and iterations to make it a successful product for us to use.

What does this have to do with digital twins? Everything!

What is a Digital Twin?

If Google it, you will find:

“A digital twin is a digital replica of a living or non-living physical entity. Digital twin refers to a digital replica of potential and actual physical assets, processes, people, places, systems and devices that can be used for various purposes.”

By definition, a digital twin can be found in many shapes and sizes. If you played Sims as a kid, the houses you built were digital twins. The house was built, you watched it being used in action (virtually), and you made adjustments to the house to create a better overall experience. Or if you were a mischievous child like myself, you built walls around the Sims without a door.

Take our Sims example and apply it to the professional world. In a YouTube video titled “Introduction to Digital Twin: Simple but Detailed”, Chris O’Connor from IBM explains that the way digital twins are used is directly correlated with the industry. You can have the same product applied to three different industries and each end product would be different.

WHY ARE DIGITAL TWINS IMPORTANT?

Digital twins provide an alternative to expensive physical models. They are popular in business tools, especially for organizations that use the IoT. One of Valicom’s original ITin3 videos explains why digital twins are so important. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

• digital twins provide visibility into everyday processes

• digital twins set triggers for preventive maintenance

• digital twins enhance connected services and products

• digital twins drive innovation and improves performance

Above is an image found in the article “Leveraging Bentley Systems’ Digital Twins in the Road Industry”. In the road industry, digital twins allow manufacturers to test variations of bridge and road formations, leading to the best possible outcome. Which, is also the safest possible outcome.. isn’t technology great!

THE FUTURE OF CONNECTED SYSTEMS

Digital twins are becoming one of the most important technologies within the manufacturing, smart cities, automotive, healthcare, and transportation industries. Not to say they aren’t being used in other industries, because they are!

These virtual models capture the important factors of a system to mimic its behavior and operation. Businesses use sensors to predict or create real-world conditions. The data gathered is fed back into the digital model, to improve either the virtual or physical system being tested.

In a recent article created by CISION PR Newswire, they provide the following roadmap for the future of digital twin technology:

• Up to 89% of all IoT Platforms will contain some form of Digital Twinning capability by 2025

• Digital twinning will become standard feature/functionality for IoT Application Enablement by 2027 

• Over 92% of vendors recognize the need for IoT APIs and platform integration with digital twinning functionality for industrial verticals 

• Nearly 36% of executives across a broad spectrum of industry verticals understand the benefits of digital twinning and 53% of them plan to incorporate within their operations by 2028

Ready or not, here it comes! It’s a good idea to begin to familiarize yourself with digital twins. Especially if you’re in the technology field.

As your on-hand IT consultants, Valicom is always here to answer any questions you may have about digital twins or creating a technology environment that will save you time and money. Don’t hesitate to reach out!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: BRITTANY PECKHAM

Brittany grew up in Oregon, Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Wisconsin Business School with a Bachelor’s degree in Management and Human Resources with an emphasis in entrepreneurship. Brittany has been working with Valicom for many years creating content for the TEM industry to deliver the many benefits users and organizations can experience in utilizing TEM services. With a passion for social media marketing, Brittany enjoys applying creativity throughout various areas of her life while expressing creativity in everything she does and loves being consumed in projects, from start to finish.