Digital twins

A digital twin is just a digital copy of something in the real world. This is often an object – ranging from a small engineering component to an entire building – but it can equally be a process or a system. It could even be a person. 

The digital copy will have a certain value by itself. It can used to analyse aspects of the real world object, or subject it to a range of scenarios, such as safety tests.

But have you considered how digital twins can offer much more value if they are taken further than this?

Connectivity

A key feature of more sophisticated digital twins is connectivity. Networking multiple digital twins – making them interoperable and connected, and so capable of sharing data – can deliver huge financial and organisational synergies, both within companies and across a larger environment or supply chain.

Processes and performance can be continually optimised and rebalanced. Increasingly, this can be done by AI that is capable of analysing massive amounts of data almost instantly and making corrections wherever necessary.

Digital twins are now revolutionising process, products and profitability in all the major sectors of the economy.

Adding value

Digital twins are already having a major effect on the bottom line for some businesses. According to McKinsey, the development of a digital twin of one tech company's network assets resulted in savings of 10% in its capital and operating expenses. The company expects an even larger, multi-billion dollar impact over the next decade.

Consumer-facing businesses are also starting to think about how digital twins can be used to add value for customers, and potentially generate new revenue streams. Would you like to have a digital twin of your house on your phone, showing you its maintenance status, temperature, current power consumption etc? Or how about the chance to drive a digital version of your real-world car around the metaverse? Or buy an NFT that's also a digital twin?

Digital twins can also be used to assess potential developments, like the digital twin of the airspace over England that is being deployed to evaluate the potential for using artificial intelligence in air traffic control.

The example of real estate

If you can use technology to monitor the build process, the fabric of the building, its structural integrity and similar metrics, you can create a better, more valuable and well-documented asset. It is also likely to help you with insurance costs, because you can demonstrate that your building is constructed and performing to certain standards.

Digital real estate feeds into the drive for more environmentally friendly buildings. The ability to collect a variety of data and understand how a building is performing environmentally in real time, and to make appropriate modifications where necessary, is a great help in securing coveted green certifications, such as a BREEAM rating of Outstanding – certifications which significantly increase the value of the asset.

An appropriately presented digital twin can also be used as a sales tool, enabling a prospective tenant or investor to take a virtual tour of a building – as well as giving them up to date information on its water and energy consumption, maintenance schedule etc.

In a few years we can expect to see technology like this embedded in real estate as part of the broader business culture. There will be standardisation, as best practice develops. And the ability to use data like this to enhance or preserve the value of assets will offer additional advantages when it can be used at scale. Its potential impact on the management of large real estate portfolios – especially those containing many similar properties – could be transformative, as could the impact of using the latest generation of AI to analyse digital twin data.

Digital twins can also be invaluable in older buildings, although the investment needed to install in smart building technologies in some older buildings can make adoption a challenge.

What should businesses be doing?

There are important considerations for businesses looking at adopting digital twins. Few will want to bet the ranch on this technology straight away. Organisations have to negotiate a real – but manageable – learning curve. Many of the businesses we are working with in this area have begun with initial small-scale trial projects.

You don't have to be a tech company, or even have a team of programmers, to build digital twins. A number of suppliers now offer tried and tested platforms for creating and maintaining twins. But there are still a number of legal and commercial issues to consider before you sign up for their services.

Even if you have no immediate interest in digital twinning, you should consider protecting your future options. For example, companies may be advised to extend their existing trade mark registrations in the light of any potential digital context.