Standards Framework

BSI Flex 260 – Digital twins overview and general principles

‘The National Digital Twin, envisaged as an ecosystem of connected digital twins, will be built on a shared foundation that supports secure and resilient data sharing across enterprises. The development of a set of standards is considered to be an important component of these foundations to enable the ecosystem of connected digital twins to grow efficiently and robustly.

Standards offer consistency and allow markets to scale up – but the methodology traditionally used to develop standards is often a slow process and does not necessarily offer agility. Given the rapid pace of change, complexity, and cross-domain nature of digital twins, a more agile and flexible approach might offer an advantage.

We have chosen to test the BSI Flex approach to explore its applicability in the context of connected digital twins. It allows for iterative modification of the standard as common knowledge around digital twins develop, lessons are learned, and practical experience is gained across domains and geographies.

The work on Flex 260 is considered as a key step towards building the foundation of the National Digital Twin. It’s a way of testing and trialling best practices around digital twins with experts from the UK and internationally.

We are excited to see how it will evolve as the market matures. We understand that Flex standards may perform better for established products, nonetheless we have learnt a great deal in engaging with the advisory group and experts in the context of developing the Flex 260, which has been designed in a way that it can continue to evolve and develop to respond to changing markets such as digital twins.’

Mark Enzer

Vice-Chair, DT Hub Strategic Board