The Digital Twin Consortium (DTC) published a whitepaper titled Spatially Intelligent Digital Twin Capabilities and Characteristics to help business executives, enterprise, business, and solution architects, system designers, and developers understand the base concept of spatial information relative to the capabilities and characteristics used to describe locational intelligence in the context of digital twin capabilities. The concepts described in the whitepaper apply to a broad spectrum of digital twin use cases, industries, and disciplines.
“The virtual representation of reality, including the facilities, assets, and real-world conditions being modeled and managed, is central to a digital twin. For many digital twin use cases, representing, visualizing, modeling, and analyzing these entities’ geographic location and spatial (positional) relationships is essential to anchor the virtual to real-world coordinates,” said Dan Isaacs, GM & CTO of the DTC. “A Spatially Intelligent Digital Twin can process and interpret spatial relationships between physical assets, infrastructure, and operational systems.”
The whitepaper provides organizations guidance to:
- Document the capabilities and resulting value streams provided through the ability to visualize, understand, and analyze the geospatial locational characteristics of real-world entities and conditions.
- Understand the distinction between different forms of locational representations, including geometric (3D models), spatial, and geospatial models.
- Document the key characteristics of locational representations in a digital twin so organizations can consistently capture locational attributes, enabling digital twin system-to-system integration.
- Capture the Spatially Intelligent Digital Twin’s locational characteristics in the context of capabilities using the DTC’s Capabilities Periodic Table (CPT).
“Digital twin systems must be designed and architected in a structured way for scalability, interoperability, and composability to realize their transformative value,” said Daniel Feinberg, senior IT Strategist and Consultant at Motivf Corporation and one of the authors. “This includes the definition of the locational capabilities of a given digital twin. This way, organizations can communicate how assets, conditions, and events are portrayed and analyzed in a spatially intelligent digital twin.”
“Geospatial location is essential to understanding the layout and context of the real-world entities being represented,” said Marc Goldman, Director of AEC Industry at Esri and one of the authors of the user guide. “The insight gained from visualizing and analyzing data in a locational context is essential for realizing value from digital twins.”
“Regardless of the scope, scale or lifecycle phase of a digital twin, location matters,” said Kostas Alexandridis, PhD, GISP, a GIS Analyst/ Spatial Complex Systems Scientist at the Orange County, California Department of Public Works, and one of the authors of the user guide.
By completing the steps outlined in the white paper, organizations can define locational capabilities and data requirements for their digital twins. They can design, develop, and operate digital twins that meet organizational needs and provide business value.
The Digital Twin Consortium Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO) Working Group prepared the whitepaper. Download the DTC website’s Spatially Intelligent Digital Twin Capabilities and Characteristics whitepaper. Become a DTC member and join the global leaders in driving digital twin evolution and enabling technology.
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