Integrated digital twins: A new value proposition

The value proposition offered by digital twins and innovative use of infrastructure data is ever growing within our built environment and is fueling uptake across the globe. Market reports suggest that the global digital twin market size is projected to reach US$96.49 billion in 2029, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40.6 percent during the forecast period.

During this same horizon, it is inevitable that the value of digital twins will increase significantly as their range of purposes broadens and the spatial scale extends beyond individual assets to networks or cities as a system of systems. When data can be shared across numerous built assets and domains as a federated ecosystem, the value of digital twins will be truly maximized.

The value of shared data

Convergence of digital twins at a wider spatial scale is also significant to economic growth and societal value in terms of data sharing. The United Kingdom National Infrastructure Commission report, Data for the Public Good, highlighted that sharing more information about infrastructure across the public and private sectors securely will enable countries to use, maintain and plan national systems better.

Additionally, these constellations of digital twins through data analytics and modeling will help optimize networks, prevent system failures, and better target maintenance interventions or renewals.

The U.K.’s National Digital Twin Program’s Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo) provides a practical example of how connected data can improve climate adaptation and resilience across a system of systems.

The CReDo program connected digital twins across infrastructure domains and services (a systems-based approach) to demonstrate how connected data and greater access to the right information can improve climate adaptation and resilience. CReDo highlighted the need for a systems-based approach because of the cascade effects — for instance, flooding which could cause loss of power which in turn can impact communications infrastructure.

CReDo also highlighted the need for an Information Management Framework (IMF) to allow consistent asset data from multiple organizations to be securely integrated within one system model and equipped with a visual interface. This enabled a clear representation of the connectivity between assets and an analysis of the resulting interdependencies between sectors.

Planning for future resilience

Demonstrators such as CReDO have illustrated the value of digital twins, which provide a system-wide view of infrastructure and its resilience, coupled with the direct benefits of enhanced information management.

Not only do they support better outcomes such as optimized investment/urban planning and responses to trigger events, but also the impact to wider society such as increased resilience of essential infrastructure and avoiding damage to properties.

In addition to increasing spatial scales of digital twins to city level, we are also moving up the temporal scale from connected dynamic models to more sophisticated predictive and adaptive models, which leverage future predictive scenario simulations and machine learning.

Realizing the importance of the city-level digital twin, many cities in developed countries in Asia have started to create and build their own versions.

For example, AECOM is participating and supporting the Hong Kong Government in establishing its digital twin by generating Hong Kong’s first 3D Digital Map, a complicated and challenging project in terms of population density (ranking top three in the world), and buildings/infrastructure complexity (over 50,000 buildings within a 200 km2 urban area).

In parallel, AECOM is also developing smart city initiatives across Asia, which includes creating synergy among cities to share their experiences and lessons learned with all stakeholders in order to come up with collaborative solutions to develop the future sustainable smart city. There is no one-size-fits-all approach in the development of the digital city, so it is important that all stakeholders are involved in order to develop a fully inclusive approach.

As we wrestle with the wicked challenges of the 21st century, especially around low carbon transition and urbanization, we need to harness the digital twin opportunity to transform our built environment. Looking across the globe we would conclude that these challenges and the full value of digital transformation cannot be realized until we can create digital twins at network and city levels and ultimately share data at a national level.