Digital Twins
A digital twin is a dynamic digital representation of an object or a system describing its characteristics and properties as a set of equations. Complex processes involving a multitude of actors are often difficult decision-making environments that are best modelled digitally prior to action. A digital twin includes both the hardware to acquire and process data and the software to represent and manipulate these data. Digital twins are more powerful than models and simulations because they leverage digital data streams to bridge the barrier between the physical entity and its representation. This means that digital twin analytics relies on historical data (e.g., a data lake), and real-time digital data streams (e.g., IoT generated data), to analyze possible outcomes (Figure 1). A digital twin is a generic model of a situation that can be tailored to a specific situation by specifying relevant parameters to provide answers to “what happens if …” or “what happens if this does not …” to support decision-making. (Source: WMN)
