Digital Twins will Soon be Everywhere, Futurists Predict

Digital twins, which don’t necessarily garner the headlines and attention accorded to artificial intelligence, are steadily working their way into our businesses and lives. However, implementing digital twins may require resources and expertise that still may not be available to many companies. Add to that additional privacy and security guardrails that need to be put in place.

That’s the word from Tata Consultancy Services, which recently released a report on its survey on the state of digital twins, which are set to “revolutionize homes, workplaces, communities, and even healthcare in the coming years. “Digital twins will become commonplace across business and society by 2035,” the report predicts.

When asked to explain which use-cases would most impact human life, participants in an associated TCS survey pointed to connected, real-time healthcare and efficient energy management. The industries that will embrace them the most over the next three years include healthcare (52%), mobility (52%) and retail (47%).

In healthcare, while a majority predict increasing use of the technology, 42% agreed it will take 10 or more years before full digital twins of human bodies become commonplace.

Pointing to the benefits of smart cities and smart homes, experts believe digital twins will help people exist more sustainably and with a better standard of living at later ages.

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Potential Obstacles to Digital Twins

When asked to identify the risks of digital twins, experts pointed to privacy, cybersecurity, and concerns around data management. “Many pointed to the need to manage risk through governance or regulatory bodies,” said Kevin Benedict, futurist with TCS.

“The power of digital twins is that they remove uncertainty, helping us see from a distance and act from afar,” said Benedict. “They can help us have visibility and manage factories, equipment, and operations all around the globe from a central location. Yet these capabilities come with a new set of vulnerabilities and challenges that business and society must solve for.”

For example, digital twins “raise concerns about privacy and security, as they involve collecting and analyzing large amounts of data,” Benedict continued. “It’s crucial for the public to understand what data is used, how it’s protected, and the measures in place to ensure privacy.”

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Lack of Interoperability between digital twins and other systems also could create issues for its users. “Data often needs to be shared with a variety of different systems, and a lack of interoperability could limit the overall value of the data,” said Benedict. “Standards should be developed to ensure that different digital twin technologies can work together seamlessly.”