Digital Twin Roadblocks - Jam 3 - Problem Prototyping, Ideas Please!

[Katie Walsh]

In Jam 3 we will be asking the participants to suggest solutions for some of the roadblocks we have found and prioritised in Jams 1 and 2 (discussion post here to see priority list from Jam 2). 

To feed into this process before Jam 3 (30th November 11.15am to 1pm), please comment with your ideas for solutions for the following top voted Roadblock, from the 'Need and Want' Problem Space, under the 'Client Understanding' Heading, answering its challenge:

How can we best persuade clients, or what could force clients, to see the benefits of Digital Twins?

Please give your initial thought on this, your gut reaction, and in a nutshell please. 

(If you would like to attend Jam 3 - Problem Prototyping please express your interest here.)

[AndrewS]

Show them it working. And yes, that means sorting out the data for them, and building a technical solution for them, before you get any investment from them.

[Guest]

On 22/11/2021 at 16:42, AndrewS said:

Show them it working. And yes, that means sorting out the data for them, and building a technical solution for them, before you get any investment from them.

Thank you for your idea @AndrewS. This must require a lot of investment upfront from the vendor?

Looking forward to seeing you in Jam 3!

[Guest]

Everyone who has ideas for solutions or wish to comment, please feel free to post in this discussion. It will be great to hear your ideas here, ahead of Jam 3. Thanks very much!

[Gary Todd (Famiio)]

Examples of proven successful DT business cases that can be used as templates - would enable innovators to present DT use cases in a way that has worked in other sectors, particularly helpful for sectors where digital twins are an unknown (in our case, childcare and social care).

[Paul]

Guide and lead, do not tell or act as though you know better, make the process, like Twins, Cooperative.  Be supportive and humble, do ont pretend to be an expert and fall into the traps BiM fell into.  Do not talk about BiM or Standards, encourage people to ask If Only and to be creative.  This is new untraveled ground and ISO19650 (for example) has no place here, rattling of standards stifles creativity.  Be a ally to your client (and in all things), not an expert

[PAULEY]

Digital Twin's can be used to help companies to monitor their carbon footprint and accelerate their Net Zero taregets by improving operational performance.

All buildings, transport/energy networks represent a target for terrorism and most companies have little control over who has/had access to their asset drawings.

From architects to contractors and third party supply chain (who worked on the project, who had access to the drawings/BIM files, where are these files kept, who has access now, did leavers keep or copy asset files - cyber security policies and commitments are important but they are relatively new and untrackable).

Mandate a centralised repository for the built environment (national (critical) infrastructure), where access can be monitored and securely maintained...

[Elena]

I think we need to look at some of the priorities in conjunction to unlock some of the prototyping ideas, for example if we work on pulling together some data to define some of the impacts and benefits (which is a Medium priority in Readiness), we can use this information to address the Client Understanding, which is a High priority in Need and Want.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Elena

[Elena]

Define a career framework for the new skills in order to address the Expert and Skills priorities in the Readiness category

[Teknick]

Be clear what your definition of a Digital Twin is when you are talking to clients. This way you manage their expectations on what is achievable within the context of the Twin you are proposing. This is not to say that you are limiting the potential of what you are offering, but by focusing your definition it becomes more transparent what is achievable in a given timeframe and what the resulting benefit to them will be.

For example our Digital Twin is focused around 3d representation and therefore simulated visualisation is a key selling point of the Twin, this can be built upon over time to expand the definition what it can do.

Regarding up front investment - yes, this is something that early adopters have to front!

[Guest]

On 23/11/2021 at 14:18, Gary Todd (Famiio) said:

Examples of proven successful DT business cases that can be used as templates - would enable innovators to present DT use cases in a way that has worked in other sectors, particularly helpful for sectors where digital twins are an unknown (in our case, childcare and social care).

Thank you very much for your insight @Gary Todd (Famiio). So templates built on successful DT business cases could inspire and be used across sectors without having to be sector specific?

[Guest]

On 23/11/2021 at 14:32, Paul said:

Guide and lead, do not tell or act as though you know better, make the process, like Twins, Cooperative.  Be supportive and humble, do ont pretend to be an expert and fall into the traps BiM fell into.  Do not talk about BiM or Standards, encourage people to ask If Only and to be creative.  This is new untraveled ground and ISO19650 (for example) has no place here, rattling of standards stifles creativity.  Be a ally to your client (and in all things), not an expert

Thank you for sharing@Paul, great motto 'be an ally, not an expert'. Would you elaborate on the traps? Thanks!

[Katie Walsh]

On 23/11/2021 at 14:55, Elena said:

Define a career framework for the new skills in order to address the Expert and Skills priorities in the Readiness category

This is a really interesting one Elena - in our break out group we touched on hoe the 'skills' we were talking about were not in particular digital skills, but the business or management skills (soft skills) to enable persuasion and convincing to be part of the skill set of those in the business of making Digital Twins. I hope I have represented this correctly - please let me know of not. 

[Anne GUINARD]

I think the DT toolkit report is a great artefact to mention in preparation for Jam 3. Its content resonates with many of the ideas mentioned in the posts above.
It was published in February 2021 by DT Hub members with the objective to aid organisations to consider the need for a digital twin and what it can be used for.

It touches on the following subjects:

What is a digital twin?

What can digital twins be used for? It sets out 3 high level use case areas:

• The importance of case studies to demonstrate the benefits of DTs (it signposts the DT Hub case study register) – I think this links back to your post, @Gary Todd (Famiio) , on the necessity to provide hard numbers as evidence of successful DTs
• How to make a case for a digital twin? (a business case template is attached to the report)
• Sophistication levels: as you  mentioned @Teknick , it is important to identify the level of sophistication (capabilities of the DT: whether it is informative, predictive, prescriptive …) required to meet the use case for which it is being developed
• What are the main steps to develop and deploy a digital twin?

Additionally, I wanted to mention the DT Toolkit Collaborative Workshop, which was developed as a follow on from the DT Toolkit report. It is intended to help organisations to run online workshops, bringing together colleagues to start to co-create the business case for a digital twin. This is a great conversation starter to drive internal buy-in and set clear action items to start the journey.

[Graham Faiz]

In response to the original question: for us at DNV, we see an almost basic need to align digital twin "art of the possibles" to customer organisational and corporate strategic goals. For example, if one of the strategic goals of an asset-owning organisation is to improve safety; or to reduce operating cost; or to extend operating life; then a narrative needs to be created linking these goals to an overarching digital twin "benefits story", speaking the language of the client organisation.

Even with correctly-specified digital twins, problems can arise in operation, as physical assets - particularly mechanical, or engineering assets - will potentially undergo many changes during their lifecycles. For many companies, there's a need to trust that a digital twin will remain fit-for-purpose long after being commercially approved and deployed on "day one". We see this as a key challenge - and understanding how the trust element can be embedded into the company decision-making culture is key against a backdrop of expensive - and in some cases, failed - "IT" projects.

[Guest]

On 23/11/2021 at 14:44, PAULEY said:

Digital Twin's can be used to help companies to monitor their carbon footprint and accelerate their Net Zero taregets by improving operational performance.

All buildings, transport/energy networks represent a target for terrorism and most companies have little control over who has/had access to their asset drawings.

From architects to contractors and third party supply chain (who worked on the project, who had access to the drawings/BIM files, where are these files kept, who has access now, did leavers keep or copy asset files - cyber security policies and commitments are important but they are relatively new and untrackable).

Mandate a centralised repository for the built environment (national (critical) infrastructure), where access can be monitored and securely maintained...

Hi @PAULEY, that's a very good point! On the other hand, might this central repository make it less easy for organisations to collaborate?

[Leia Mills]

I agree with so many of the posts here.

Apologies for repetition, but my own experiences:

• Definition of Digital Twin (so many different views in my own company) @Anne GUINARD - your post was really insightful - thank you
• How to start the journey - who to speak to
• Who do you employ 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Leia Mills

[J Clementson]

How can we best persuade clients, or what could force clients, to see the benefits of Digital Twins?

 

Immediate thoughts are: 

Clients to see Digital Twins of tangible assets and systems in action and hear from those who have benefitted

Sector Level Leadership to define requirements/vision for Sector Level Digital Twins and provide financial and mandated incentives and governance for the asset level Digital Twins needed to meet this vision.  

[Dave Horner]

Demonstrating tangible digital twin benefits - applications or user cases -  rather than just technology and data

[Katie Walsh]

On 26/11/2021 at 17:18, Dave Horner said:

Demonstrating tangible digital twin benefits - applications or user cases -  rather than just technology and data

Hi Dave, where do you stand on AndrewS's point above? - "Show them it working. And yes, that means sorting out the data for them, and building a technical solution for them, before you get any investment from them."

[Alan Gould]

Hi Katie

Apologies for not interacting earlier, been finishing up at Openreach and now in between Jobs before starting as GIS Manager for a new company. Hopefully I can commit more time over the coming weeks.

Please see attached for my initial thoughts.

looking forward to tomorrows call.

Digital Twin Roadblocks - Jam 3 - Ideas V1.0.xlsx

Edited November 29, 2021 by Alan Gould

[Katie Walsh]

On 29/11/2021 at 16:22, Alan Gould said:

Hi Katie

Apologies for not interacting earlier, been finishing up at Openreach and now in between Jobs before starting as GIS Manager for a new company. Hopefully I can commit more time over the coming weeks.

Please see attached for my initial thoughts.

looking forward to tomorrows call.

Digital Twin Roadblocks - Jam 3 - Ideas V1.0.xlsx 179.64 kB · 0 downloads

thanks for all this pre-thinking Alan!  You will be fast out of the idea blocks tomorrow, and I'll add your idea for the challenge on this post to the board along with all the others

[Francesca Noardo]

Hi all,
I agree with many posts here: with @Teknick, having a clear definition of 'Digital Twin' and its elements (mandatory and optional); with @AndrewS show them a working case close to their knowledge, I would avoid too complex and fancy things in favour of something for which they can immediately see the applicability and benefit.
Then, showing them the benefits in clear numbers.
@Anne GUINARD post is a good summary.
Finally, a clear roadmap to be followed, including skills training and data improvements and specification can let them see concretely the issue and possible benefits.
See you later!

Edited November 30, 2021 by Francesca Noardo

[Navein Madhavan]

Hello all, apologies for being late to the party. 

 

I echo most of the comments above. Demonstrating tangible applications of Digital Twin through case studies builds confidence and breaks down the art of the possible into achievable chunks. In our mind, the Digital Twin is made up of a number of distinct elements (technologies etc) - "whole being greater than the sum of the parts".

 

Definition and understanding of what a Digital Twin is critical and has been mentioned above. For the automotive sector, we have aligned on the definition below:  

A digital representation at the appropriate fidelity of a physical asset and its behaviour that is synchronised with its physical counterpart and interrogated to deliver value.

Training and skills are also a priority as there is a lack of clarity on what is and how to achieve Digital Twin, strategically and technically. 

 

Something that we found particularly tricky is deriving the tangible monetary return on investment. I would be keen to look at Value for Money calculations or anything similar which can demonstrate clear ROI for digital/digital twin investments. 

 

I'm echoing a lot of the messages above and I'm glad we are aligned. I'm looking forward to an energetic discussion later. 

 

Best regards,

Navein 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Navein Madhavan

[Guest]

On 30/11/2021 at 07:57, Francesca Noardo said:

Hi all,
I agree with many posts here: with @Teknick, having a clear definition of 'Digital Twin' and its elements (mandatory and optional); with @AndrewS show them a working case close to their knowledge, I would avoid too complex and fancy things in favour of something for which they can immediately see the applicability and benefit.
Then, showing them the benefits in clear numbers.
@Anne GUINARD post is a good summary.
Finally, a clear roadmap to be followed, including skills training and data improvements and specification can let them see concretely the issue and possible benefits.
See you later!

Thank you @Francesca Noardoand see you in Jam 3!