Introduction to theme 3: Pathway to value

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Why This Theme?

DT Hub activities focus on a set of thematic areas (themes) that are based on shared opportunities and challenges for members. These themes are areas where collaboration can help members to gain greater understanding and make more progress towards realising the potential benefits of digital twins. 

This short introductory piece outlines the scope and approach for the third theme “Pathway to value”: 

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Helping organizations to understand the value that digital twins can achieve and the roadmap to realise this value, including building and sharing value cases

Why is this theme important? Each of the members we spoke to raised concerns that their development of digital twins may be hindered without a clear ability to demonstrate value to others, including senior management and stakeholders.  While most member organizations have top-level support for digital twins it is still difficult for them to progress from pilots towards larger scale investments. 

Sharing examples of the value that is already being generated by digital twins, from other members and more widely, can increase support and accelerate adoption. In addition, there is a desire to consider and share thinking on steps along the roadmap towards greater value at greater scale.  

  

Scope 

This theme will facilitate discussions between members and other stakeholders on: 

• Shared or common use cases, outcomes from existing digital twins and opportunities for future collaboration 
• Costs and blockers 
• Strategic approach and roadmaps for digital twins 

The goal is to build on work being done through the NDT programme and generate ideas and recommendations based on real-world experience from members and from the wider market.  This may influence the development of future tools to quantify value as well as overall thinking on the roadmap towards a federated national digital twin.  

Engaging with this theme can help digital twin users and stakeholders start to address questions like: 

• What use cases offer the greatest potential value? 
• How can I measure the value from digital twins, encompassing economic (profit), social (people) and environmental (planet) benefits? 
• How will my organisation benefit from the implementation of digital twins? 
• What are the blockers to realising value and how can we address these? 
• What are some of the steps on the roadmap towards greater value at greater scale? 
• What can I learn from other industries that are implementing digital twins at scale? 

 

Objectives 

The main objectives for this theme are then to: 

• Map use cases within a pre-existing framework, and consider measures of value (we have started by mapping to people, planet, profit) 
• Identify potential blockers and possible approaches to address these 
• Assess strategies/roadmaps from members and the wider market 
• Generate insights for members and feedback learnings to the wider NDT programme including potential needs for any tools or frameworks 

 

Get involved 

You can already start to get involved, including by:

• Commenting on the posts in the dedicated space for this theme
• Starting your own topic where you have ideas to share

We want this theme to be driven by member’s views and priorities, so it would also be great if you would like to comment on this post including on:

• Where you are seeing initiatives that could benefit articulating the digital twin value proposition
• Use cases and in-house examples that might help inform this work
• Specific value pathway activities you may be working on related to use cases or value models
• Any views that you have on what digital twin value pathways look like

(DT Hub facilitation Team)