As many of you will know, the DT Hub sits within the NDTp and provides a forum for testing and a community for learning and progressing digital twins. In this note I’ve invited @Peter El Hajj, the Head of Delivery for the National Digital Twin programme (NDTp) to give members of the Hub an update from the programme. I’ve asked Peter to tell us a little about himself and to give us a whistle-stop tour of the NDTp; how it got started, what’s happened so far and its plans for the coming year and beyond.
Sam: We met shortly after the Data for the Public Good report was published and you were a member of the resulting Digital Framework Task Group (DFTG) – what has happened since then?
Peter: Rather a lot has happened since then. At the time I worked in infrastructure finance and digital ventures at Mott MacDonald. I then joined the DFTG to develop the roadmap towards a national digital twin. Since then we have established the delivery vehicle for the national digital twin programme consisting of the three core streams: DTHub, Commons and Change. Each step has been exciting and enriching and it’s only the beginning of the journey.
Sam: These are exciting times for the NDTp, what motivated you to join as Head of Delivery and what do you see is on the horizon for the programme?
Peter: The NDTp’s vision is to improve the lives of people by bettering the performance of infrastructure. This is achieved through effective and secure sharing of data and information across sectors and organisations. I personally find these ambitions meaningful and the opportunity to contribute to their success highly motivating. In the long term I see the national digital twin changing the way we plan and manage infrastructure.
Sam: What would you say are some of the milestones the NDTp is most proud of?
Peter: There have been quite a few but if I were to pick the top they would be the publishing of the Gemini Principles - the conscience of the entire programme, of course the launch of the Digital Twin Hub, hosting the inaugural National Digital Twin Day and publication of the Flourishing Systems report and the Pathway towards an IMF. The old saying of ‘start as you mean to continue’ really rings true with these pieces – they form the foundations of the programme.
Sam: In terms of the DT Hub, what do you think is the greatest way in which the Hub and its members can contribute to the NDTp?
Peter: I would say keep doing what you’re doing. Keep building digital twins, keep sharing your experiences; successes and challenges. As with many initiatives, there will be those who are not yet ready to make the leap but equally there are always those who see the vision and the DT Hub is the pioneering community collectively pushing forward and paving the way for others.
Sam: There are many within the DT Hub who are already active across the NDTp but for those who may not be aware or are interested in finding out what else is happening across the programme and how they may get involved, can you share some highlights across the programme and perhaps how our members can get involved?
Peter: Sure, here’s the newest and latest from around the programme:
New team member: we are delighted to have @HenryFT join the team as DTHub Community Manager.
DFTG meeting: The DFTG meets every two months to provide comments, challenges and direction for the NDTp. Our last meeting was two weeks ago and I’m happy to report that members’ comments were positive and supportive for our core three streams: Commons led by @James Harris , DTHub led by @Samuel A Chorlton and Change led by @Sarah Hayes. The DFTG, chaired by @Mark Enzer; is the advisory board for the NDTp. Its members represent asset owners and operators, institutions, universities, government, regulators, supply chain, legal firms, consultancies and tech providers.
FDM Seed: The Foundation Data Model (FDM) Seed team led by @Matthew West is making good progress on the technical core of the IMF. The product of their hard work have been captured in key documents soon to be published on the IMF Community Network here on the DTHub with the help of @Zane Ulhaq. These documents are the Top-Level Ontologies (TLO) paper, the Industry Data Models survey paper and the TLO recommendation paper. Join the network to take part in the fascinating discussions taking place.
Open consultation on the IMF: The open consultation on “the pathway towards an IMF” concluded at the end of August and we have received 24 responses which are now in the process of being reviewed. @Miranda Sharp is leading the next phase of engagement to refine the proposed approach and ensure we remain faithful to the pathway towards an IMF which is a priority for the programme.
Gemini Call: A new call has been started to provide weekly updates from the programme to supporters of the programme last week. The call takes place every Tuesday 10:30 to 11:00 hosted by @Simon Evans. The Gemini Call is part of the Gemini Programme - an NDTp collaboration initiative. The first Gemini project is the DT Toolkit which includes a collection of digital twin case studies, use cases, a business case template and implementation roadmap for digital twins. This project is a collaboration with KPMG, Frazer-Nash, PA Consulting and Dassault Systèmes. If you are interested in joining the call please reach out to ndtprogramme@cdbb.cam.ac.uk
Skills to implement the IMF: A new tender opportunity was published last week on the CDBB website. This tender is looking to grow awareness of the roles and skills required for implementing the IMF. This includes the development of a capability framework, gap analysis and priority list of roles and skills for early action. The IMF aims to enable effective information management across the built environment and is the basis for a national digital twin.
The NDTp is a socio-technical change programme. It aims to enable an integrated digital built environment to improve the performance of infrastructure and improve the lives of people. We run an open and collaborative programme and always welcome contributions and ideas.
Peter will be providing regular updates on the NDTp and how you can get involved. To find out more about any of the activities and how to get involved reach out to ndtprogramme@cdbb.cam.ac.uk.
In my third editorial note I am going to focus on examples of community members sharing for community good. These are not the only good example of sharing in the community but are ones that have stood out to me personally. Sharing is central to the progress that this community will make, by highlighting examples I hope to empower other members of the community to share.
Digital Twin Talks
During July and August, I have been facilitating the second series of Digital Twin talks on interconnected digital twins. It has been a real privilege to work with all the speakers and pose questions during our live discussions at 10:30 am every Tuesday. It has also been great to see members of the community asking questions. If a question is relevant to you, it is also likely to be relevant to others. Asking questions drives the discussion forward and brings out more details from the presentation.
@Steven Zhang from Modular Geospatial Data for Everyone has been an ever present participant during this Twin Talk series, asking great questions to each of our speakers – kudos to you and thank you for showing such a strong commitment to the community!
You can check out upcoming talks on the calendar and view past talks. We will be concluding this series of talks with a live round table featuring all of the speakers on 25th August. Please bring your thoughts, questions and challenges regarding the interconnection of digital twins.
Also if you would like to take part in a future twin talk series by giving a presentation yourself please contact either myself, or Tammy Au the DT Hub engagement lead.
Supplier Register
Members of the community who rapidly scale solutions are probably already familiar with “orders of magnitude”. The Supplier Register has just passed its first small milestones – from 0 to 10 entries and from 10 to 100 supplier views. Our next milestones are much more ambitious from 10 to 100 entries and from 100 to 1000 supplier views.
Rather than highlight a specific entry, I would like to thank all members that have added to this growing resource. As early adopters your solutions are already being showcased through the lens of the Gemini principles information value chain.
For members of the community who haven’t yet submitted an entry I would encourage your to do so. Adding an entry is straightforward and quick to do. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me directly on the hub using the mail icon at the top of our navigation bar.
We are also currently planning our platform enhancements for delivery between September 2020 to March 2021. I would like to give the supplier register some TLC to support scaling to our next milestones and beyond. If you have any suggestions that you would like to see on our wish list, please let me know.
Extra-community events
We know that digital twin is rapidly growing into a big space. While our aspiration is for the DT Hub to be THE community for you to connect, discuss and share, there is so much good stuff going on outside of the DT Hub we are very grateful to members of the community for sharing these with other members and bringing them to our attention.
@Mark Coates of Bentley Systems shared details of Microsoft’s “The IoT Show” as they were doing a deep dive on integrating 3D models and IoT data using Bentley Systems and Microsoft technologies. As this show featured a virtual premier and live Q&A we were more than happy to share this using the community calendar. Community members can “Create Events” in the calendar using the button at the top of the page. Please feel empowered to use this to share upcoming Digital Twin events with the community.
If you missed the live premier, the recording of the show is on the Microsoft Developer YouTube channel.
Community forums
As new communities form it takes time for new members to gauge the lay of the land and to transition from viewers of content to active participants in discussion. A key step in this community forming is community members sharing their own content into the community to stimulate thoughts and feedback from others.
Picking out only one example would be very difficult, but there are two that particularly stood out to me in the last month.
@Stephen Wolski of Sensat shared a great post on Semantic segmentation of 3D point clouds. This stood out to me for a number of reasons. 3D point clouds are something I have personally struggled with during my time producing BIM models on Infrastructure projects, so I was very interested to see advances in this area. The post itself was a good “executive summary” of the work that Sensat and the Alan Turing Institute have been doing to teach computers to understand the real world and links to a well written and detailed report for those that have an interest in the topic. An exemplar community post.
Ian Gordon of Highway England shared a link to an article he authored titled “5 ways that Digital Twins could destroy society”. It is an excellent, thought provoking read. I don’t believe that Digital Twin will destroy society, nor does Ian, but I believe the point is to think about all outcomes not just the one you are working towards.
It takes a level of bravery and leadership to share your views with a community. So, I would like to thank Stephen and Ian for providing tangible examples of what good looks like. One thing all members of the community can do is recognise these contributions using the like et al feedback buttons. This helps us and the rest of the community identify hot topics that our community are engaging with. Another thing is to reply to the topic, to share your thoughts, experiences and constructively challenge. This will help to connect the community and drive us all forward.
Closing thoughts
I would like to thank all members of the community that are sharing their knowledge and experience for community good. I would also like to apologise that for the editorial I have only been able to pick a few examples of what good looks like. Of course, I hope by sharing these examples I will empower all members of the community to take the step to become an active member of the community by sharing something themselves.
Tom Hughes
Delivery Lead, DT Hub
10th August 2020
The Digital Twin is one of the most mentioned terms across the built environment and as such is entering a phase in which it has somewhat of an identity crisis. This provides opportunity for some whilst presenting risk for others. It is vital that we learn to understand what constitutes a Digital Twin whilst not inhibiting its ability to evolve. Failure to do this effectively will prohibit the potential value proposition put forward by Digital Twins and devalue the vital work developed by the community thus far.
Big Data entered a similar phase itself and one, I feel, that it never truly managed to overcome. With the early claims relating to the potential value capabilities of harnessing Big Data every company quickly tried to do what it could to reap these rewards. Many companies however didn’t manage to achieve this and as such it quickly started to become regarded as an exaggerated claim. Although I think the results of some of those organisations should have been taken with a ‘pinch of salt’ I think some of this could have been addressed by properly understanding the foundations and standardising the approach at an earlier point in time.
The community has dedicated much time and energy in the exploration of Theme 1: Defining and Conceptualising Digital Twins and our focus going forward is to continue the exploration in more depth and detail. As such, we have enlisted BSI to support this work and over the coming months we hope, the community, together with BSI will begin the work of defining a roadmap built on consensus, best practice and leading to much needed industry standards.
This work will also be bolstered by activities across the DT Hub and the National Digital Twin programme including:
· The Information Management Framework (IMF) pathway detailing the approach to establishing a common language allowing digital twins to connect. You still have time to have your say on the pathway to the IMF with the consultation closing on the 31st August.
· Digital Twin Standards Roadmap developed through assessment of existing gaps and establishing a standards landscape review by BSI.
· Smart Infrastructure Index survey being conducted within the DT Hub for members to measure their organisation’s digital maturity and benchmark against other asset owners within the industry and the Hub. Members’ scores will be aggregated to provide insight for a report about current digital maturity in our journey towards a national digital twin.
We therefore all have a role to play to ensure that we are not just riding the hype wave of digital twins but looking at what role each of us can play in ensuring we achieve a collective end result we are all happy with.
Samuel A Chorlton Chair, DT Hub Steering Group 10th August 2020
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The history of creating models as representations of architecture and infrastructure has provenance dating back over 7000 years with early examples recorded in areas such as Gumelnita (now known as Bulgaria) in 4600 BCE.
In the centuries since then the accuracy of these models have changed greatly thanks to modern methods but the principles have remained the same. Digital Twins provide us the next opportunity not just because it has the potential to produce a near idetic representation of as-built infrastructure but also to dynamically update the model to reflect changes within the system. As with physical modelling this is going to be a process that continually evolves and will be refined over time.
For the Hub and the National Digital Twin programme it is essential that we are able to understand what the current maturity of digital twin practices looks like and the intentions that exist. To this end we have established a Digital Twin Register https://digitaltwinhub.co.uk/dtdb/ which will perform a vital role in allowing us to see the current state and the evolution of landscape. To date we have only had a few submissions to this area of the site. To better facilitate the inclusion of register entries we have created a exemplar entry with some explanatory prose to aid with completion of the register. It is important to note that this isn’t just for completed Digital Twins but also for usecases or early stage developments. The programme will be able to use this work to chart a course and providing support as appropriate to aid the members.
I am writing this editorial to request from you, our members, to provide entries for the register and to allow us to perform some initial analysis. If we can reach a sufficient level of entries we will then be able to start providing more targeted resources to the community and also allow you to review what other similar activities maybe taking place across the built environment. Add your digital twin here.
In my second editorial note I would like to focus on how member feedback is being used to iterate the functionality provided by the DT Hub, improve member experience, and how we are looking to measure whether the functions we are providing are creating value for our members.
Community name
Based on feedback from our members we have simplified our community name from “Suppliers and Innovators” to simply “Innovators”. This reflects our view that all members of the community are innovators who are developing solutions that enable the vision of the National Digital Twin. You are creating value for owners and operators of built environment assets and delivering social and environmental outcomes. The community name is inclusive, upholding our values and the community culture we wish to nurture.
Supplier Register
For organisations that supply digital twin solutions commercially, the Supplier Register is a way to showcase solutions through the lens of the Gemini principles information value chain.
Thank you to our members who have already created entries in the supplier register, and for all the feedback you have provided. We have already made some improvements to the registration process aimed at making it quicker to get submissions approved by the moderation team. We would also welcome further feedback on how we can continue to improve the suppliers register feature.
As we now have several suppliers who have registered, we have made the supplier register visible to the members of our community that own and operate assets in the built environment. The supplier register will continue to grow and evolve over time, now is a great time to register your organisation and showcase your solutions to asset owners and operators.
We will measure the success of the supplier register based on the number of organisation who chose to use it to showcase their solutions, the number of community requested enhancement we are able to implement, and feedback from the asset owner operator community on the value of the register in identifying who does what when it comes to digital twin solutions.
Community Resources
Based on feedback from our members we have restructured our resources section. You will now see “Core” and “Community” resource categories. Core resources are documents published by the DT Hub team, the wider National Digital Twin programme and the Centre for Digital Built Britain.
Community resources are resources shared by you, our community, for the benefit of the community. We have made these changes to make it easier for you to share resources, and to ensure that community resources can be shared to all members of the DT Hub.
We encourage all members to share resources that they feel are relevant and of value. These may be resources you have already produced or ones you may create specifically for the DT Hub. Resources will be moderated to ensure they comply with our terms of use, but it is for you to decide what content you want to share with the DT Hub community.
We will measure the success of the community resources by the number of resources that are shared by our members, the number of times that resources are downloaded by other members, and then number of discussions that community resources create in our members forums.
International innovators
Our original roadmap had a phase for international members later in 2020 once our current communities are established and thriving. In welcoming innovators to the DT Hub at the start of June we may have overlooked those innovators who do not live in the UK but work for multi-national organisations.
This led to colleagues working for the same organisation, some living in the UK and some living elsewhere receiving different responses to their membership requests. This, of course, was not the intention, and based on feedback from the community we have adjusted our membership policy to include innovators working for multi-national organisations. We are rolling out the updates to our membership policy this week, so expect to see your international colleagues on the DT Hub soon!
As a community, we measure success based on the number and quality of discussions taking place across our forums. It is hoped that welcoming international innovators will lead to more and better discussions that enable the development of expertise and the advancement of digital twin usage.
Closing thoughts
I hope providing some tactile examples of how member feedback is driving the iterative cycle of development within the DT Hub, and some of the ways we will be measuring the success (or failure) will encourage you to provide more feedback on what is needed to make the DT Hub a success. I hope the changes we have made in the first month of the innovator community will add value to all members, and that this will stimulate more use, which will lead to more feedback and we can continue to iterate and measure success.
When the Digital Twin Hub launched two months ago we welcomed asset owners and operators as our first group of members. At the same time, we generated tremendous levels of interest from people who are developing digital twin technologies and providing a range of services to asset owners and operators.
We have been working hard to develop and test new Digital Twin Hub features which we hope will support the needs of this new group of members and continue to strengthen the delivery of Digital Twin Hub’s core objectives.
Welcoming our second group of members and releasing a new set of tailored features is a hugely satisfying milestone to have reached. Now the fun really starts as we look to you to share your views and discuss key topics that will collectively advance the creation of the National Digital Twin.
As the first editorial note for the supplier and innovator community, this note covers some of the features we have delivered and some of the lessons we have learnt.
Members forums
At its core the Digital Twin Hub is about connecting members and facilitating discussion that will shape the National Digital Twin Programme. Within the member forum area there is a range of forums that have been created, ranging from general discussion to strategic thinking and specific elements of the National Digital Twin programme. Within each forum there are discussion topics, and within each topic there is a discussion thread.
As members you are all actively encouraged to contribute to these discussions, share your views, your experience of what works (and doesn’t work), and anything you feel contributes to the community. You will see that members of the hub facilitation team will frequently kick off discussions with some relevant content. I would also like to encourage you to do the same, as members you can create discussion topics within any of the forums and use this as an opportunity to share content with the wider community.
We would also like to hear what other forums you would like to see within the members area. As the Digital Twin Hub continues to develop these will be actively shaped by our community.
Suppliers Register
With so many innovative solutions being developed to support the creation of digital twins we wanted to provide a space in the Digital Twin Hub dedicated to this. It is an opportunity for suppliers of digital twin solutions to showcase their capabilities, and an opportunity for asset owners to better understand what is available to enable their digital twin journey.
We have worked with both suppliers of digital twin solutions and those that are working on delivering digital twins within asset owning and operating organisations to understand how we might go about this task. The result, the Supplier Register, is aligned to elements of information value chain – first published in the Gemini Principles.
It is hoped that this common framework, orientated to the value generated by the creation and connection of Digital Twin, will be of benefit to all members of our community. If you supply digital twin solutions you are encouraged to submit an entry to the supplier register. These are intended to be one per supplier covering the range of solutions you provide.
As we continue to develop though our beta period, we would like to hear feedback on what would make the suppliers register even better.
Glossary
The glossary section of the Digital Twin Hub provides a direct connection between the community on the Digital Twin Hub and some of the work being delivered by the National Digital Twin Programme. A foundation to the creation and connection of digital twins is a common vocabulary and a shared understanding of meaning. To build consensus around this area of work the Glossary section is intentionally interactive. Some initial terms have been provided, all of which can be commented on by our members. Members can also submit new terms using the “suggest new term” button for other members to comment on.
More information on the glossary development work can be found in the digital twin talk titled “Twinfrastructure” delivered by Neil Thompson, the delivery lead for the National Digital Twin Commons.
Looking forward
As I mentioned toward the start of this editorial note, now the fun really starts. Please make full use of the Digital Twin Hub’s functionality; contribute your views to discussion, start new discussions yourself, share relevant content, use the supplier register, and contribute to the Glossary. Building a community platform is one thing, building a community is another thing entirely. By connecting, discussing, and sharing, we can collectively advance the National Digital Twin and the benefits for society and the natural environment that it will bring.
In the coming weeks there are a range of activities to continue to build this community including;
Digital Twin Talks (Series 2) – Connecting or Connected Digital Twins?
The National Digital Twin Pathway to the Information Management Framework Webinar
Digital Twins – A Foundational Guide
Welcome to the Digital Twin Hub,
Tom Hughes
Delivery Lead, DT Hub
29th May 2020
Learning to Succeed and Succeeding to Learn. 3 Core Lessons
The Digital Twin Hub’s ethos from the start has been one of openness; and learning from the collective successes and failures of the community. In order to make this a part of our collective behaviour I think it is essential that we ‘practice as we preach’ and as such, since we are rapidly approaching the end of the 2nd month since we launched the Digital Twin Hub I feel this give us an excellent opportunity to reflect on the progress that has been made and some of the lessons we have learnt along the way. This will then provide some context to the activities we have planned for the coming months to strive towards a Hub that truly delivers to its’ community.
COVID-19
The industry is collectively having to learn, adapt and evolve in an unprecedented manner because of the COVID-19 epidemic that has been sweeping both the United Kingdom and across the globe. It would be unfair for us to claim that we have been unaffected by this, but I think it important to reflect that its effects on the Hub are both unexpected and insightful. The core ‘stay home, stay safe’ message from the Government has moved the majority of our members into a new default of working from home. This has increased our dependence on Digital mechanisms to maintain communications; and awareness of activities outside of our standard roles.
At the outset of the epidemic we were understandably concerned about the impact that this would have on the growth of the Hub and the subsequent engagement from the community. However, we have seen continued growth in the membership level of the community growing from a core of just a dozen members to in excess of almost 200 members in just under two months. This has translated to our Digital Twin talks consistently achieving over 70 views and nearly 50 people tuning in to listen to our first ever live Digital Round table.
My personal sense is that a significant proportion of this engagement is as a result of the importance placed on the development of Digital Twins and if anything, this has only increased in light of the current situation.
Lesson 1: If a need truly exists it will continue to exist irrespective of changing circumstances. We should instead focus on how to continue delivering value within the new constraints.
Changing Behaviours
Behavioural change is going to be a fundamental component on the journey towards realising Digital Twins as both the management of the assets change but also the manner in which we all interact with the assets around us. This necessity for change is also a fundamental component of enabling the Digital Twin Hub to satisfy both the needs of the community and in turn also the value outcomes. As the Hub goes through its formation process this an area that is proving especially complex and difficult to achieve.
This difficultly exists in my mind for two core reasons: providing a sufficiently compelling offering to justify people dedicating the necessary time to the Hub and reaching a point of critical mass in which the majority of content and value is community generated.
Although the events and activities we have run so far have produced extremely promising levels of interest, these do not always result in continued engagement following. We have therefore taken the decision going forward to drive more crucial activities from the National Digital Twin Programme and related activities onto the Hub to provide the community with the opportunity to be an even greater part of the discussion.
Lesson 2: Tipping the balance of self-generated to member-generated content will deliver a sustainable and more valuable prospect.
Meeting the Demand
When we first launched the Hub, we never imagined that two months in and we would have 200 registered and approved members with a further 300 pending registrations. This demand includes not just core asset owners and suppliers but also international, academic, public bodies and more.
Although, these groups were communities we hoped to be able to include as part of the Hubs activities in future we had not anticipated this level of interest at such an early point in time. We are therefore actively undertaking steps to allow us to include as many groups as possible as soon as possible whilst maintaining security.
Whilst we work to confirm and grow the Hub’s community we are trying to make as many of the activities we host as open as possible to include as many voices as we can.
Lesson 3: Never underestimate the value people place on significant change especially where the value of success is so exponentially beneficial.
Looking Forward
As we step into the next phase of the Hub, we are filled with anticipation for where the next part of the journey will take us. Stay tuned for a number of activities that you will be able to engage with:
1. Digital Twin Talks (Series 2) – Connecting or Connected Digital Twins?
2. A Digital Twin Organisational Maturity Survey.
3. The National Digital Twin Pathway to the Information Management Framework Webinar
4. Digital Twins – A Foundational Guide
5. More yet to be announced
Samuel A Chorlton
Chair, DT Hub Steering Group
29th May 2020
Talking value
It’s been a busy couple of weeks since my last update. It has been great to see a fantastic level of engagement for our recent Digital Twin Talks and our webinar on the “Pathway to value”, with more coming up for you to get involved in later this month.
Before I get into that, I thought it would be useful to reflect briefly on the role that digital twins can play in increasing the resilience of our infrastructure, economies and societies. Digital twins can help us to improve long-term planning, including by assessing a wide range of scenarios, as well as considering the impacts of potential risks and threats to physical infrastructure and related services. They can also increase flexibility and dynamism in responding to shocks as and when these occur in future. This fact has even been recognised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) who cited the National Digital Twin programme within an article relating to infrastructure resilience and recovery.
A more resilient future should also be a more sustainable one and there is a golden opportunity to shape a recovery that meets both goals. This includes looking at our existing infrastructure and how we protect and utilise it. As well as being open to fresh ideas about how we plan, build, operate and decommission or dynamically repurpose new infrastructure. This is a clear priority for the UK and international governments, and the Committee for Climate Change has just set out six principles for a resilient recovery.
We’d love to see some of your ideas on digital twins and resilience in the DT Hub, from the projects you are involved in now through to your plans for the future.
Twin Tuesdays
Could there be a better day of the week to discuss digital twins? Our Digital Twin Talks kicked off on Tuesday 28th April with a video and live online discussion on “Towards a Web of Digital Twins” from Olivier Thereaux, Head of Research and Development at the ODI. Olivier made a fascinating connection between networks of digital twins and the thinking behind the world wide web. This prompted a lively debate on a wide range of topics including interoperability, taxonomies, data sharing, standards and being driven by a clear purpose.
You can still view the conversation thread (and add further thoughts or comments) here.
This was swiftly followed up by a talk on 5th May with Brian Matthews, Project Lead for the Data & Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure (DAFNI). DAFNI are providing exactly the kind of data infrastructure that the ODI are calling for and that can support sharing and connections between data and models. This sparked another lively discussion, with questions and comments on data and metadata, on how people can access and use DAFNI, on the carbon impacts of transport infrastructure and more.
You can still view the conversation thread (and add further thoughts or comments) here.
The next session took place on Tuesday 12th May with Dr Tanguy Coenen from Imec, with a focus on city-level digital twins.
Pathway to value
We had lots of great discussion during our theme 3 webinar “Pathway to value” on 30th April. Many thanks if you were able to join us and share your perspectives. If you couldn’t make it, then there are still plenty of opportunities to get involved.
During the session, we discussed how digital twins can deliver economic (profit), social (people) and environmental (planet) benefits, as well as considering some of the blockers to overcome. We also began to look at proposed activities for the theme and related priorities for members.
The slides we used, including high-level information we captured from you on valuable use cases, are now available to download from the Resources section.
We have also created a dedicated discussion forum for this theme which you can access here. Please do continue to contribute your ideas on use cases that can drive value in this section, as well as any other thoughts you have on how we can realise the anticipated benefits.
In addition, if you would like to share information about specific projects, then it would fantastic if you can add these to the DT Register. If you need any help with this then please don’t hesitate to come back to me or to other members of the wider CDBB team.
How to get involved
A quick reminder of a few of the ways you can get involved in DT Hub activities:
Comment on an existing post or start a new topic in the Members Forum
Add a summary of your digital twin projects to the DT Register (a register of digital twin projects – we’d be very happy to help to write these up)
Join the next Digital Twin Talk on 12th May, with one more planned for 19th May and then a digital roundtable to bring all the speakers together on 26th May
Let us know through the “Contact Us” option at the bottom of each page what other activities and content you would like to see in the portal in future
We hope you enjoy the latest content and activities – and look forward to seeing you online soon.
Samuel A Chorlton
Chair, DT Hub Steering Group
13th May 2020
In this note, I’d like to reflect on a successful launch for the DT Hub and look ahead at some exciting planned activities.
Launch
The formal launch of the DT Hub at the end of March generated considerable interest. I would like to express a personal thank you to all the members all your help in promoting it.
More than 200 people registered their interest within just a few days, including innovators, stakeholders as well as asset owners. This was driven by a focus on personal sharing through social media, very much in line with our community ethos, which generated a real buzz with hundreds of engagements through “likes” and “shares”.
As part of the launch, we also created a beta version of a separate space in the portal for innovators from the supply chain and other key stakeholders. We are working with a small group of these organisations to test and help us refine this area. Connected to this, we are developing an “Open Forum” where we can host joint discussions between existing DT Hub Members and the supply chain – more on that below.
Coming next
We’ve lined up an interesting set of activities, each building on the three priority themes that we identified with you.
Firstly, we’re excited to announce the “Digital Twin Talks”, with videos and facilitated online discussions in a public part of the Open Forum area. The first set of talks is a five-part series facilitated by @SimonEvans of Arup exploring how digital twins are defined and the overarching concepts around them.
Videos will be available from 9:00 each Tuesday with live discussions from 10:30 – 11:30. An introduction video is already available on the DT Hub home page. The first talk, on the 28th April, is “Towards a Web of Digital Twins” from Olivier Thereaux at the ODI.
We will also run a webinar for theme 3 addressing the “Pathway to value” for digital twins on Thursday 30th April and will send out the invitation within the next few days.
In addition, we will continue to share more content into the DT Hub to help spark discussions and follow up on themes 1 and 2 including:
• A report with initial insights for theme 1 based on member discussions and research
• Ideas on a possible “test” for what might comprise a digital twin (part of theme 1)
• Potential “role profiles” for people who need to use and interact with digital twins (part of theme 2)
• Intro pieces for themes 2 and 3
How to get involved
A quick reminder of a few of the ways you can get involved:
• Comment on an existing post or start a new topic in the Members Forum
• Add a summary of your digital twin projects to the DT Register (a register of digital twin projects – we’d be very happy to help to write these up)
• Join one of the Digital Twin Talks or the theme 3 webinar
• Let us know through the “Contact Us” option at the bottom of each page what other activities and content you would like to see in the portal in future
We hope you will enjoy getting stuck into some of the activities we have planned over the next few weeks and look forward to joining you in those discussions.
As always please let us know if you have ideas of things you would like to see on the Hub.
Samuel A Chorlton
Chair, DT Hub Steering Group
22nd April 2020
We’re delighted to announce that today marks the formal launch of the Centre for Digital Built Britain’s Digital Twin Hub.
As we reach this important milestone, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in shaping the DT Hub into what it is today . This is a key part of enabling our collective journey towards a National Digital Twin.
By tapping into your experience and ideas, we’ve already been able to come a long way in a short time. Now that we are starting to promote the DT Hub more widely, I thought it would be good to reflect on what we have done already and what is coming next.
I’m also reminded that, at a difficult time in the UK and around the world as we cope with the impact of COVID-19, digital platforms like this have an important role to play in fostering remote collaboration. We’ll try to make the DT Hub experience, from chatting on this portal to webinars, as flexible as possible to fit around your many commitments – and welcome your feedback on how we can continue to improve this.
What’s more, as our economies recover, digital twins, amongst a host of other innovations, can help us all to deliver more value from our infrastructure and the services that depend on it.
I hope you enjoy reading this update and wish you well in your personal and work endeavours over the coming days and weeks.
Where did we get to so far?
Discovery and scoping
We’ve been working with you to identify shared priorities. This has included discussion of opportunities, use cases and potential blockers and challenges.
Collectively, members see digital twins as central to their digital strategies with potential to transform strategic and operational decision making, improve productivity and deliver better services. At the same time, there is a recognition that collaboration to tackle shared challenges is essential in order to move on from pilots and start realising value from large scale implementation.
The initial thematic priorities (“themes”) emerging from these discussions reflect the desire you have expressed to make real progress on “foundational” concepts and thinking on digital twins:
Theme 1. Testing digital twin concepts: What are digital twins, what are the main building blocks for digital twins and how can we develop common understanding?
Theme 2. Digital twin competencies: What capabilities, skills and culture are needed to successfully implement digital twins?
Theme 3. Pathway to value: Building and sharing value cases; what is the roadmap to increased scale and greater value?
Our initial discussions with you generated lots more useful insight. This included a wide range of valuable use cases, from predictive through to “self-healing” assets, and from long term resource planning through to reducing carbon in mobility and logistics.
A dedicated digital space
We created this online portal as a dedicated digital space for DT Hub members – with a focus on sharing thinking related to the themes, sharing insights gained from digital twin projects and facilitating collaboration on the best way to move forward together.
It’s still early days, but we’re already seeing some interesting comments and discussions on the portal. The most popular post so far talked about ontology and taxonomy. While a link we shared on a digital twin for Notre Dame sparked a fascinating response, and then a follow up call, on the role of digital twins in conserving medieval buildings.
Today we are also beginning to test, in conjunction with key players in the supply chain, a separate space within the portal. This will include an area for joint discussion with existing DT Hub members (the “Open Forum”).
Starter content
We’ve created “starter” content to help spark conversation for each of the themes (beginning with the first, “Testing digital twin concepts”). This brings in perspectives on topics including definitions and scope of digital twins, learning from other industries like aerospace and manufacturing, as well as digital twin use cases. You can access this from the Members Forum pages.
Discussions and webinars
A key role of the DT Hub is to facilitate discussions between members. As you may have seen, we’ve started to do that around the content for the themes. Some of you have also shared your own perspectives through this portal – thank you and please do keep commenting and adding your own posts and ideas.
So far, we have held webinars for the first two themes and plan to run more going forward. There was a great turnout for our theme 2, digital twin competencies, webinar on 24th March, with several of you offering to share your approaches on roles and skills needed to implement digital twins. This kind of practical insight is invaluable, and we plan to follow up on this conversation with you in the dedicated theme 2 area in the Hub.
We will also facilitate time-boxed discussions on specific aspects of each theme – and host these in the portal.
What’s next?
Next up are a series of time-boxed online discussions or “jams” on each of the themes. We’ll host some of these in the “Open Forum” and publicise them in advance so that you can find out how to take part.
We will also plan a webinar on the theme 3, looking at the pathway to value for digital twins, in April.
In addition, we will start to summarise some of the initial findings for each theme (beginning with theme 1) into an interim report with recommendations for the wider NDT programme.
How to get involved
You can continue to get involved and have your say on the focus of the DT Hub by:
Commenting on an existing post in for one of the Themes in the Members Forum
Starting a new topic for discussion in the Members Forum
Adding a summary of your digital twin projects to the DT Register (a register of digital twin projects – we’d be very happy to help to write these up)
Getting involved in one the online “jams” that we will host in the Open Forum area – coming soon
Let us know through the “Contact Us” option at the bottom of each page what other activities and content you would like to see in the portal in future
Thank you for joining us on the journey – I look forward to sharing further perspectives as we move forward together.
Samuel A Chorlton
Chair, DT Hub Steering Group
31st March 2020
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