Unlocking the Future: Digital Twins vs. Next-Generation Digital Twins

Join the hosts as they explore the dynamic landscape of digital twins and their revolutionary next-generation counterparts. Discover how digital twins, virtual replicas of physical objects or processes, merge data from various sources to mirror real-world counterparts. Uncover also the incredible applications of next-gen digital twins across industries like manufacturing and healthcare, harnessing AI, machine learning, and IoT technologies for deeper insights and autonomous decision-making. From personalized patient care to predictive maintenance, learn how these advancements are shaping the future.  Delve into the challenges of data integration, privacy concerns, and cultural shifts in adopting these transformative technologies. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion that sheds light on the extraordinary possibilities that lie ahead. 

Transcript

Nghi Dang   

Welcome everyone to another exciting episode of IoT for the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Nghi, and joining me today is my co-host, Sonja. Today we delve into the fascinating world of digital twins and the next generation counterparts. What exactly are these digital twins and how they're shaping various industries? Let's find out!

Sonja Pöyry   
Yes, hello, everybody, and thank you Nghi, it's great to be here! And digital twins have been a buzzword for quite a while already in the recent years. But for those of you who might be unfamiliar, let's start maybe a bit by explaining what a digital twin actually is.

Nghi Dang 
Absolutely, Sonja. A digital twin is a virtual replica or a representation of a physical object, process, or system. It combines data from various sources, such as sensors, simulations, and real-time data to create a dynamic model that mirrors its real-world counterpart.

Sonja Pöyry
That's right. Digital twins have become invaluable in many industries, including, for example, manufacturing, healthcare, and even transportation. They allow for real-time monitoring, predictive analysis, and improve decision-making. But now we are witnessing the emergence of the next generation digital twins. What sets them apart?

Nghi Dang 
Yes, well, I have learned that next-generation digital twins are taking this concept to a whole new level. They incorporate advancements in technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things. These new capabilities enable deeper insights, enhance interactivity, and even autonomous decision-making.

Sonja Pöyry
Wow, that's fascinating. It seems like next-generation digital twins have the potential to revolutionize industries. Do you think you could give us some examples of how they are being applied today that, that you have come to know of?

Nghi Dang
Certainly, Sonja, I can try.
 
Well, but let's first, for example, consider the manufacturing industry. Next-generation digital twins can optimize production processes, predict maintenance needs and even simulate and optimize supply chain operations. It can provide manufacturers with a comprehensive view of their entire operations, enabling them to identify inefficiency and make data-driven improvement.

They can enable virtual product prototyping, allowing manufacturers to identify and design flaws early in the development process, reduce the number of physical prototypes, and accelerate time to market. Actually, one of our recent blog posts on how next-generation digital twins revolutionize product design and maintenance also touches this point. By leveraging the capabilities of next-generation digital twins, product or system performance can be automatically simulated and optimize under various conditions, eliminating the need for extensive manual intervention, for example.

Then there is also the real-time monitoring capabilities of next-generation digital twins. They can also enable manufacturers to autonomously detect and address potential issues early on. So less reliance on human intervention and more effective downtime minimizing, and further extending the life span of products and systems.


Most of all, the autonomous nature of next-generation digital twins as well ensures a proactive and seamless maintenance approach, maximizing operational efficiency and reducing potential disruption.


And then, another thing is, when it comes to production lines, for example, next-generation digital twins may help manufacturers identify bottlenecks or, as well any inefficiency. So, manufacturers get to see how they should adjust parameters and fine-tune the production processes to achieve maximum throughput and minimize waste.

Of course, certainly, there are even more examples of how next-generation digital twins can be of beneficial or of use in the manufacturing industry. But I'd like to also mention an example here that may highlight more the customer-centric values in next-generation digital twins, which I have also, learned myself from our CEO, and from our company insights throughout my time being at BaseN. And, this is something I found very visionary and thought-provoking.

But like, imagine purchasing a car.

Currently, we receive digital assets to accompany the physical vehicle. But often, at BaseN, right, our CEO has talked about enabling a next-generation digital twin of the car that evolves throughout the entire customer relationship. So, the next-generation digital twins of the cars, with all relevant insights that allow for even more tailored services to the customers driving those cars, will become the main merchandise instead.

And one of the most emphasized implications for this thinking is a full product life cycle management. This technology may support manufacturing businesses to be more efficient, proactive right from the design and development phase, to manufacturing and production, and to operation and maintenance phase even.

So, manufacturers will really be driven to have a holistic view of the entire product journey and may revolutionize how they engage with customers throughout this journey.

So, the key here is enabling an ongoing customer engagement throughout the product cycle. And this allows manufacturers remain connected with their customers in real-time, gain insights and feedback to constantly adapt to customers evolving needs. And we also have often talked about this and highlight how these will be an integral part of the transformational and, and more sustainable thinking in the future of businesses.

While I would just wrap up my answer this here. But I know that there are also previous podcast episodes with our CEO or multiple blog articles of BaseN on this topic, that I'm sure our listeners can dive further into. All you need is probably just type in Google search, 'products life cycle management with digital twins and BaseN'.

Sonja Pöyry
Or, you can just visit also us directly at, www.basen.net, to find all the information that Nghi has mentioned. Because we indeed have quite extensive articles about this topic and it's very impressive overall.

I personally can see how these advancements would be incredibly valuable, but what about other sectors? Are there any notable applications in healthcare, for instance?

Nghi Dang
Absolutely, Sonja. 

For example. In healthcare, I have heard, about how next-generation digital twins can offer personalized patient care, facilitate remote monitoring and assist in surgical planning. And so, imagine a virtual model of a patient that combines their medical history, genetic information, and real-time data from wearable devices. It can certainly help doctors make more accurate diagnoses, and develop tailored treatment plans.

Sonja Pöyry
Yeah. And since you're already mentioned the surgical planning, I can imagine that, that it will be also easier to foresee whether surgery might be very complicated. Because, I am not a doctor, but just saying that, it might be difficult to go to the right spot, where the surgery is needed. But if there is the, the image of like a virtual model of the page, and I think that can ease quite a lot for the, for the doctor.
 
Yeah. So, the potential impact on patient outcomes is truly remarkable. But what challenges do you think we might face in the adoption of next-generation digital twins across various industries?

Nghi Dang
Yes, that's an on-point question, Sonja. One major challenge is the integration and management of vast amounts of data. Next-generation digital twins rely on data from multiple sources, and organizations need robust infrastructure and analytics capabilities to derive meaningful insights.

Of course, privacy and security concerns surrounding sensitive data will require careful consideration. 

Then, often, well, companies also see adopting new technologies, as next generation digital twins, require substantial cost and investment, which I believe is one of the big barriers for them to change. Then, another barrier is probably organizational culture and our common resistance to, to major changes. 

Embracing technologies like next-generation digital twins certainly requires a cultural shift within organizations. I think our CEO has also often said that, digital transformation or business transformation start with the leadership.

And then, when it comes to change management, there will always emerge resistance. And effectively managing the transformation process is thus essential for a successful adoption. But then, of course, it's simpler to say in words, but more complex in implementing.
 
Additionally, there are also other challenges, like implementing next-generation digital twins may require specialized knowledge and skills from personnel, or the concern regarding scalability, such as what would happen when the data sets grow and operations expand, for example. And of course, the need to be compliant regarding data protection and privacy regulations.
 
But I actually would like to also ask, in your work experience so far though Sonja, would you also see above as the challenges industries encounter when adopting technologies, new technologies, so, not just next-generation digital twins?

Sonja Pöyry
Yeah, I think that's actually a common problem, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's a problem because it's quite human to be unhappy with something that is not familiar, because the brain really likes familiar, familiarity.

So, it's usually like, from my experience, it has always been a bit difficult when new technologies, and that may, may be something very small, but when implementing new technologies, there is usually, from what I have seen so far, a little bit of...resistance is, may be not the right word but...People are a bit skeptical and of course, then there's also the problem that some don't like to say that I don't know how this works. So, I think how you can fight this is to make sure that everybody has the training and really understands the new technology, and that you encourage your workforce that they can always come and speak to you, and that you will support them in the change. Because I think that is again a very human thing to react in a more negative mode when something is changing.

Nghi Dang
Absolutely.

Sonja Pöyry
But yeah, those that you have mentioned, are very valid concerns as technology continues to evolve, it's quite crucial to address the challenges to ensure that the successful implementation of next-generation digital twins actually happens.

Nghi Dang
Yes, absolutely. The possibilities seem to be limitless, but we must navigate these challenges responsibly.

I think that maybe we should also touch upon now the future potential of next-generation digital twins. What exciting developments can we expect to see?

Sonja Pöyry
Well, of course, I can't foresee the future, but I think the future of next-generation digital twins holds incredible promises.

We can anticipate advancements in immersive technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality, which enable us to interact with digital twins in more intuitive and engaging ways than compared to right now. And just imagine, to be able to step into a virtual simulation of a manufacturing facility, or a patient's body to gain deeper insights, it's a bit scary, but also very fascinating.

Nghi Dang
Definitely, it sounds incredible and mind-blowing at the same time. The combination of advanced technologies with the next-generation digital twins has the potential to revolutionize not only industry but our everyday lives. Right. From smart cities to personalized education. It just seems to me that the possibilities are endless. But, at the same time, it's still taking us all some time to grasp the potential and, and the real-life benefits of next-generation digital twins.
 
And certainly, it is taking time for top-level executives to take the leap of transformation.
 
But I think, what I have also learned being at BaseN, is really that the future is a constant evolvement of how we utilize technologies and its values. And if we don't embrace or act upon this quickly, our competitors may.

Sonja Pöyry
Absolutely, Nghi. It's an exciting time that we witness for the evolution of digital twins and explore how they can shape our future.
 
As a wrap-up to today's episode, uh, do you have any final thoughts or key takeaways?

Nghi Dang
Yes, yes. Certainly, Sonja. 

I'd like to conclude, um, these points, um, digital twins and next-generation digital twins have immense potential to drive innovation, optimize processes and transform industries. But while digital twins are virtual replicas of physical objects, process or systems that use real-time data to create dynamic models, next-generation digital twins incorporate advanced technology like AI, machine learning and Internet of Things. They will enable deeper insights and autonomous decision-making.
 
We went through earlier some examples of next-gen digital twins being applied in industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, but it's crucial to also be reminded of challenges such as data management, privacy concerns, change management - when it comes to implement these new technologies, to ensure responsible, ethical, as well as a successful implementation.

Given those challenges, though, however, I would still like to underline the benefits of real-time monitoring, predictive insights, and autonomous decision-making of next-gen digital twins, and how truly remarkable they can be. And as technology continues to advance, we can look forward to more immersive experiences with virtual reality and augmented reality, like Sonja has also previously touched. 

The future of next-gen digital twins is exciting and it is essential for businesses to stay proactive and embrace this transformation. I believe by doing so, we can unlock the full potential of this technology, to stay ahead of the competition.

Do you have anything else to add there, Sonja?

Sonja Pöyry
Not a lot, because you already said most of it, and I can just agree with you that the potential that can be unlocked is like, I do believe that we cannot even see yet how big that potential really is. I think it's tremendous and, also, what you mentioned just now that we still need to keep track of how the data is managed, I think that is also something that next-generation digital twins will solve. Because they are more secure and it will probably also help to process the data in more, more ethical ways, that really no one has access to them, just the machine. And the machine then can give you advice on how to handle something. 

So, that is something that is very important, and living in Finland, you Nghi also probably know that Finland is the country with the strictest privacy rules in the world, so I think it will take a positive turn, absolutely.

So, thank you Nghi, and thank you to our listeners for joining us on this exploration of digital twins and the next-generation counterparts. And we hope you found this episode informative and inspiring.

Nghi Dang
Yes indeed, Sonja. Thank you as well for joining me in this episode.

And thank you from me to our listeners as well.

Remember, if you have any questions or want to share your thoughts on this topic, please reach out to us on our social media channels. And you can easily find us by just typing 'BaseN'.  And you will find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and YouTube.

But until next time at IoT for the Rest of Us. Stay curious and keep exploring the fascinating world of technology!

Sonja Pöyry
And subscribe!