Written by Rob Lenarcic, General Manager of Utilities for North America, VertiGIS
Any organization that controls a large public infrastructure network – from established utilities like gas, electricity, and water to transport systems and telecommunications – is acutely aware of its responsibility to maintain, improve, and monitor it. Reliability is crucial to maintaining customer satisfaction, while disruption to any major public service can have serious consequences.
In our increasingly digitised and connected world there is a wealth of data organisations can leverage to assist with this challenge, and digital twins are an elegant and sophisticated way to not only map and monitor existing networks, but also plan their future evolution. With the right combination of data, integration with adjacent tools, and accessibility, digital twins can solve many of the challenges associated with managing complex networks.
What is a digital twin?
A digital twin is just what it sounds like, a digital representation that mirrors a physical network. However, it is much more than an online geographical map. It is a virtual representation of reality that stores all the available information about every asset in the network and how it relates to every other asset. It includes processes, relationships, operational status, and workflows.
Simply having a point-in-time digital twin is not enough. To work effectively and deliver its full potential, a digital twin must always be accurate and current. This requires multiple systems to work in harmony, each contributing their data to the twin. Examples include IoT-connected components reporting device status and alerting to outages or interrupted workflows; spatial geographic information system (GIS) data documenting the physical location of the network and its surrounding environment; building information model (BIM) data; live environmental data. But really, the sky is the limit. Anything relevant to the twin can be included.
The real challenge lies in making sure all these data sources are accurate, up to date, fully integrated, and synchronised within the twin – and with adjacent solutions – so they can work in harmony and safely utilise automation to unlock the full potential of the digital twin concept.
Unplanned incident response
Fast, efficient response to unplanned disruption is essential for any business managing a public infrastructure network. Consider the example of a water utility that experiences a broken water main. In this instance, the GIS data in a digital twin can be used to record the location of the breach, trace the network to discover nearby valves that should be shut off.
Then, integrating with the company’s ERP software, automated work orders can be issued to field engineers detailing the actions they need to take. Once onsite, mobile workers can access the digital twin’s GIS information to find out information about the assets they are working on, and automated bills of materials can be generated to replace damaged assets.
By ensuring the digital twin has a user-friendly, accessible interface, companies can provide their workforce with information in a format they are familiar with, which makes their lives easier and means more workers can get value from the digital twin.
A further benefit of a digital twin is its value in supporting customer communication programmes. Customer communications are essential to maintaining the company’s reputation and keeping customers safe and informed when network disruption occurs. The digital twin can be used to identify which customers will be affected by the interruption to supply or service, enabling the company to broadcast targeted customer messages. Timely and complete communications help maintain customer confidence in the provider and offer much-needed assurance.
Modelling, planning, and testing scenarios
While digital twins are incredibly useful in the emergency operational scenario described above, they are more strategically useful when it comes to developing and modernising infrastructure. Their wealth of data on interdependencies and workflows means they can be used as a sandbox to assess the impact of network repairs, changes and improvements before they are implemented. Digital twins enable organisations to ask: “what if?” and explore the consequences of different scenarios before putting them into action. This lowers the likelihood of unforeseen consequences when making major changes or additions.
Disruption may be unavoidable when changes or repairs are needed but – similar to the emergency scenario – by modelling changes before they are made, the digital twin’s GIS data can be used to identify affected areas or customers so a communication and mitigation programme can be planned and delivered, alerting customers to the situation in advance.
Public interest data sharing
Today’s citizens have high expectations around information sharing – especially where key services are concerned. They want the transparency and real-time experience offered by consumer apps replicated by service and utility providers. A digital twin founded on accurate, current GIS data should increasingly be considered part of a communications and engagement approach, as well as an operational and strategic tool.
Accessibility and extensibility
The final piece of the puzzle unlocking the value of digital twins is their usability. Simply having all the information available is not enough, it must be easy for every user to access and analyse, regardless of their technical expertise. They must also be extensible, able to integrate with adjacent solutions so processes can be automated, broader big data analysis undertaken, and even greater efficiencies unlocked.
Digital twins have enormous potential across a huge range of industries – everyone from the DoD to the city of Las Vegas is getting in on the act. There is growing adoption across gas, water, electric, and telecommunications industries, and our own customers are seeing a real-world impact from using solutions such as water network tracing and outage control apps – in addition to integrations with ERP software such as SAP that helps to streamline operations and boost efficiency in the energy sector.
With the right degree of usability and extensibility, digital twins have huge potential to become central to modern, digitally integrated life.