Digital Twin: Philosophy for the new digital revolution

Each innovation had its followers, which, when applied, transformed different industries. The PC changed the way we manage physical documents, CAD sent the drawing tables to the wineries; email became the default method of formal communication. All of them ended up following globally accepted standards – at least, from the perspective of the provider. The transformations in the previous digital revolution added value to geographic and alphanumeric information, which individually helped boosted modern businesses. These transformations all relied on global connectivity; that is, the “http” protocol that we still use today. The new initiatives took advantage of the information, the inter-connected world and turned them into new businesses like Uber, Airbnb, Udemy and Netflix that have become a p[art of modern culture.

But today, we are at the doors of a new digital revolution, which will change all this.

Nobody can guarantee the shape of the new digital landscape – industry leaders suggest a mature, pragmatic approach will stand us in good stead.. There will be opportunities for those with vision and scope to take advantage of this revolution. Governments, always mindful of re-election, may also move with an eye on the short-term. But, in the long term, it is, ironically, common users, interested in their own needs who will have the last word.

And although the new environment may offer better coexistence, with free code living side by side with private coding according to sustainable standards resulting from a consensus; nobody guarantees that actors such as government and academia will live up to their role in good time. Nobody can predict how it will happen, we only know it will happen.

Digital Twin - The new TCP / IP?

Since we know it will happen, even if we do not perceive the gradual changes, we need to be prepared for change. We know acting with cuation will be necessary for those who understand the sensitivity of a globally-connected market where added value not only appears in the stock market indicators but also in the response of increasingly influential consumers with regards to the quality of services. Undoubtedly, the standard will play a role in ensuring balance between industry’s supply of creativity and the demands of the end users.

This course offers a vision from the author (Golgi Alvarez) perspective, and includes segments of Geospatial World, Siemens, Bentley Systems and Enterprise Management as representative leaders of the Digital Twins approach.