Reply To: Gemini Call Q&A Thread, Tuesday 1 March 2022

[David Simoes-Brown]

On 03/03/2022 at 12:44, Elvin Box said:

@DeeyesbeeCould / should we encourage physical meetings to enhance our learning and knowledge sharing of Digital Twin?

Hi @Elvin, any social activity that is focused on DTs has to be a good thing whether virtual or face-to-face.  Having said that I have been impressed with DT Hub members willingness and ability to interact online and on balance don’t feel that we would have got better or different results with physical workshops. The next phase of activity that we’re recommending following the Blockers research is all about working together more closely however in project teams so there may be value in having a specific team space especially if physical tech in involved. 

What was effective about online in this case is that it had low barriers to participation (doesn’t exclude those without travel budgets!), efficient (it’s much harder to commit a day to a workshop than a few hours, especially for entrepreneurs) and inclusive (accessible and suits different personality types). 

So it depends on the type of interactions you need. Clearly, 192 ideas came out of a short online session and their prioritisation was transparent and democratic – sometimes harder in person…  So idea generation doesn’t need physical proximity and neither does proposition development.  Our experience shows that the more a real collaborative project (e.g. a joint venture) develops the more benefits hybrid team working brings.