How a shift in perspective could unlock the true potential of connected digital twins and transform our built environment
When Mark Enzer from Mott MacDonald opened his recent Gemini Call presentation, he didn’t start with technology or data. Instead, he painted a picture of our built environment as something far more profound: a living system of systems where transport, energy, water, telecoms, and social infrastructure interweave to enable human life to flourish.
But here’s the challenge he posed to the 200+ attendees: while our world operates as deeply interconnected systems facing interconnected challenges like climate change and resource scarcity, we’re still trying to manage it through disconnected silos and isolated projects.
“We’ve got very connected systems and very connected challenges,” Mark explained. “However, we’ve got very siloed organisations and very siloed information.”
This fundamental mismatch, he argues, is why we need to fundamentally reimagine how we approach the built environment—and why digital twins are crucial to this transformation.
The Project Trap: Why Our Current Approach Falls Short
For decades, the construction and infrastructure sectors have viewed the world through what Mark calls the “project lens”—a linear progression from planning to design to build to handover. While projects remain essential tools for delivering change, this narrow focus blinds us to a critical reality: every project emerges from and integrates back into existing systems.
“Projects are interventions on systems,” Mark emphasised. “The handover is always handing over into something that already exists.”
This insight has profound implications. Consider the circular economy. Through a project-based view, our ambitions are limited to reducing construction waste and increasing recycling—worthy goals, certainly. But through a systems lens, we can pursue something far more transformative: maximising the value and use of everything we’ve already built.
The difference? One approach tweaks the edges; the other revolutionises the whole.
Systems Thinking in Action: A Practical Framework
Mark didn’t just diagnose the problem—he offered a refreshingly practical framework for applying systems thinking at any scale, from individual rail networks to entire cities:
1. Define the Outcomes
Start with what you’re trying to achieve. What outcomes do current systems deliver? What outcomes do we actually want? The gap between these drives all subsequent change.
2. Understand the Systems
Map the elements, connections, and boundaries. Systems nest within larger systems—rail within transport, transport within cities, cities within regions. Understanding these relationships reveals leverage points where minimal intervention can create maximum impact.
3. Design Interventions
Target those leverage points strategically. This is where projects come back into play—not as isolated endeavors but as deliberate modifications to systems.
4. Observe, Learn, and Iterate
Create continuous feedback loops. When interventions modify systems, we must learn from the results and refine our approach. This isn’t a one-time fix but an ongoing evolution.
Where Digital Twins Transform the Equation
This is where the conversation pivoted to the heart of the Digital Twin Hub’s mission. Mark presented a compelling vision of federated digital twins as the essential tools for understanding and optimising these complex systems.
“Connected digital twins are absolutely key tools to enable us to understand the systems better and intervene more effectively,” he stated.
The power lies not in individual digital twins but in their federation—creating an ecosystem where data flows across traditional boundaries. Imagine electric vehicles recognised not just as transport assets but as distributed energy storage, with digital twins enabling real-time optimisation across both systems. Or consider how connecting transport and telecoms digital twins could finally deliver reliable WiFi on every train journey.
These aren’t pie-in-the-sky dreams. Mark pointed to examples like the CREDO project, which demonstrated information flow across water, energy, and telecoms sectors, proving that cross-sector data sharing can unlock entirely new value propositions.
The AI Question: Foundations Before Flourishes
When questioned about AI’s role in this systems transformation, Mark offered a balanced perspective that cut through the hype. Yes, AI has enormous potential—particularly in generating models that can replace computationally heavy physics-based simulations with lightning-fast machine learning alternatives.
But he issued a crucial warning: “AI doesn’t work without good data.”
Before we can harness AI’s transformative power, we need to sort out our data foundations. This means not just having data that’s fit for use, but data that’s fit for sharing—with the infrastructure to move it across organisational and sector boundaries. These foundational elements, Mark argued, are essential not just for AI but for the entire information economy we’re trying to build.
From Political Will to Practical Action
Perhaps the most challenging question from the audience addressed the elephant in the room: how do we shift political focus from ribbon-cutting projects to systems-level thinking?
Mark’s answer was pragmatic. Change won’t come from philosophical arguments alone but from hard economic evidence that systems-based approaches deliver better value. This is why his team’s “Connect to Change” paper places a built environment systems review as its first recommendation—to provide the economic proof that will tip the balance toward systems thinking.
The Collaboration Imperative
Who needs to be in the room to make this happen? Mark’s answer was both simple and challenging: everyone.
This transformation demands what he calls “radical collaboration” across government, industry, and academia. But it starts with those who can already see the path forward working together to build shared understanding and economic evidence that brings others along.
“The promise of doing that is huge if we get it right,” Mark emphasised.
Your Next Steps: From Vision to Action
Mark’s presentation wasn’t just theoretical—it was a call to action backed by practical tools. The “Connect to Change” paper, published in July 2024, provides detailed recommendations and has already garnered support from major organisations across the sector.
For digital twin practitioners, the message is clear:
- Think beyond your immediate project boundaries. How does your digital twin connect to the larger system?
- Prioritise data interoperability from day one. Build for connection, not isolation.
- Identify the leverage points in your system. Where can minimal intervention create maximum impact?
- Create feedback loops for continuous learning. Systems thinking isn’t a destination but a journey.
The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher
As Mark concluded, this isn’t just about efficiency or optimisation. It’s about enabling people and nature to flourish together for generations. The challenges we face—climate change, resource scarcity, urbanisation pressures—are fundamentally systems-level problems that cannot be solved in silos.
“If we don’t take a systems approach, we will not be able to address those challenges,” Mark warned. “We effectively have to do this now.”
But here’s the encouraging part: it also makes good economic sense. Better outcomes for less input—that’s the promise of systems thinking applied to our built environment.
Join the Systems Revolution
The shift from projects to systems isn’t just a change in methodology—it’s a fundamental reimagining of how we create and manage the built environment. As digital twin practitioners, we’re uniquely positioned to lead this transformation by building the connected, intelligent systems that make this vision possible.
The question isn’t whether we need to make this shift—it’s how quickly we can accomplish it together.
Want to dive deeper? Access the full recording of Mark’s presentation and join our weekly Gemini Calls every Tuesday at 10:30 AM BST to continue exploring how digital twins are transforming our built environment.
Have thoughts on systems thinking or examples of cross-sector digital twin integration? Share them in the Digital Twin Hub community forum and let’s build this connected future together.
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