Adoption of Digital Twins to disrupt multiple industries

As per GlobalData there is a significant rise in the adoption of Digital Twins – virtual models of physical objects such as buildings, cars or infrastructure. More industry sectors now recognise that by drawing on complementary tech and resources such as AI, the Internet of Things and ‘big data’, Digital Twins can build new products – and get them right the first time. They can also monitor existing assets, optimize maintenance, and reduce downtime, or check carbon emissions, nearby traffic flow, and even simulate an adverse weather object.

Digital Twins are already revolutionizing industries including construction, energy, architecture, aerospace, automotive and transportation and the value in the new tech is reflected in its predicted growth: Markets & Markets estimates that the Digital Twin market will grow from 3.1 billion dollar in 2020 to 48.2 billion dollar per year by 2026, at an annual CAGR of 58%. A survey says, COVID-19 and efficient integration as the reasons behind increased adoption: "Digital Twin technology has gained a lot of traction in the last few years due to accelerated digitalization across industries. It has become more valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic to help companies navigate the crisis.

Finally, the implementation of digital technologies, such as the cloud, big data, IoT, and artificial intelligence, is increasing in various facets of businesses. Digital twin involves the integration of various IoT sensors and all the digital technologies for virtualizing the physical twin. With growing connectivity arises the risk of security, compliance & data protection, and regulations.

Digital twins play an important role in monitoring a patient’s health, the impact of tablets, and other parameters. Some of the industry players have grabbed the opportunity to fight against the coronavirus pandemic by providing different solutions. For instance, Exactcure, a French start-up developing a software solution to reduce medication errors, has developed a digital twin solution to lower the impact of inaccurately dosed medication. Through this digital twin solution, the efficacy and interactions of medications in the body of a patient based on their personal characteristics, such as age, gender, and kidney status, are monitored.

At the same time, the increasing occurrences of viruses and cyber-attacks have raised concerns regarding data security. Important information can be stolen by malicious viruses in computer systems, resulting in a major loss to the companies. Failure of IoT infrastructure providers and cloud platform providers in implementing proper security measures might lead to disruptions in the flow of information. The industries that have implemented digital twins with such platforms are prone to malware attacks that are targeted at industrial systems due to the increasing dependence on Web-based data interchange and off-the-shelf IT solutions.

By Dr. D. K Sahu, Publisher-VARINDIA