Key concepts

A crucial distinction exists between a nation of digital twins and a national digital twin.

Isolated digital twins replicate individual assets or systems and provide direct benefits to their owners, while connected digital twins exchange data and insights that enable collaborators and downstream stakeholders to optimize outcomes beyond what any single twin could achieve alone. Over time, this ecosystem of connected twins may evolve into a coherent national digital twin; however, before this can happen, the National Digital Twin programme (NDTp) must first determine how much better such connectivity is and identify who will benefit from it.

Mechanisms

1. Logic model for sharing benefits

The Centre for Digital Built Britain has developed a three-step framework to assess how stakeholders derive—and amplify—benefits through connectivity:

1. Standalone activity and benefit
   Each stakeholder performs its routine function and gains value.

   • Example: A local authority maintains road surfaces to fulfill its statutory duty of moving goods and people.

2. Isolated-twin optimization
   Organisations use their own digital twins to improve timing, resource allocation, or training.

   • Example: The council schedules roadworks for minimal disruption; a broadband provider trains staff in a simulated network environment to boost operational efficiency.

3. Twin-to-twin collaboration
   Connecting twins creates joint decision-making capabilities, unlocking additional efficiencies and wider stakeholder gains.

   • Example: Council and broadband contractor coordinate work to maintain road surfaces and upgrade connectivity simultaneously, reducing carbon emissions and delivering more predictable interventions for local residents.

2. Scaling the cog model

When the basic “cog” interaction is scaled across industries or nationally, it reveals a web of interdependencies:

1. Map all relevant stakeholders—asset owners, utilities, emergency services, environmental agencies, etc.

2. Identify how each twin’s data and functions intersect.

3. Quantify incremental benefits and barriers to integration (e.g., data standards, governance, trust).

4. Design the “connective tissue”—architecture, protocols, ontologies—to support secure, interoperable sharing.

Examples

• A municipal authority uses its digital twin to plan resurfacing works; when connected with a broadband operator’s twin, both parties synchronize schedules, minimizing road closures and improving internet uptime.

• An energy network links its twin with flood-monitoring twins to co-manage infrastructure resilience, reducing repair costs and service disruptions.

• A logistics consortium integrates warehouse, transport, and traffic-management twins, enabling real-time rerouting that cuts delivery times and carbon footprints.

Further reading

• Centre for Digital Built Britain, “Digital Twin Roadmap”, for methodology on evaluating connected-twin benefits.

• UK BIM Framework, “Information Management Principles”, for governance and data-sharing guidance.

• ISO 19650 series, on life-cycle management of built-asset information.

• Gibbons, P., & Mahdjoubi, L., “Digital Twin for Smart Cities”, exploring cross-sector interoperability.

• BSI, PAS 181:2020, on mapping existing asset information to digital twin frameworks.

• Smith, B., & Welty, C., OWL Web Ontology Language Guide, for underpinning semantic models enabling twin connectivity.