Launch Of Digital Twin BluePrint Unpacks Drivers, Barriers & Applications

The SWAN Forum, BlueTech Research & Karmous Edwards-Consulting collectively unpack digital twin concepts, from drivers to relevant applications across drinking water, wastewater and stormwater.

London -- A collaborative effort between the SWAN Forum, BlueTech Research and Karmous-Edwards Consulting, and inspired by dozens of global utilities that contributed their insights through a digital twin survey launched last year, this complimentary ‘Digital Twin BluePrint’ is a go-to introductory resource to help uncover some of the basic elements of digital twins.

In this informative piece, you can begin to understand what constitutes a digital twin technology from across the digital water landscape, as well as understand why model-based analytics provide powerful insights via the use of behavioral models and context data.

Speaking on the BluePrint’s contribution to the water sector knowledge base, BlueTech’s Research Director Rhys Owen remarked: “Digital twins are already bringing huge benefits to utilities and industrial water users and are set to play a significant role in the ongoing digital transformation of the water sector but are not well understood. We think that this guide will help provide an overview and starting point for anyone in the industry to gain an understanding of the possibilities of digital twins.”

Adding his utility perspective, Satish Tripathi, Managing Engineer of SWAN Member Houston Public Works, and a co-lead within the global SWAN Digital Twin Work Group, said: “This BluePrint has successfully pulled together a wide range of foundational digital twin information, from broad concepts to more specific applications. This collaborative output represents a very comprehensive and easy to digest view of some of the potential drivers and barriers to digital twin project deployment.”

Finally, Gigi Karmous-Edwards added: “It’s an ongoing pleasure to collaborate with leading organizations — SWAN and BlueTech Research — both serve as catalysts for innovation, knowledge sharing, industry relevant research, and diverse stakeholder engagement surrounding sustainable water management and water infrastructure resilience. In this ‘Digital Twin BluePrint’, we aim to introduce key digital twin concepts and applications as they reflect a continuous evolution within our fast-growing global water community, proudly complementing the impressive efforts of SWAN's Digital Twin Work Group.”

We invite you to read the high-level teaser and access the full, complimentary BluePrint on the SWAN website here. An accompanying survey report to complement these findings with further insights will be launched on May 9th at the upcoming 6th SWAN Digital Twin Workshop in Glasgow, Scotland.