Unlocking digital twins project

A digital twin is a virtual representation of assets and processes. It's powered by real-time data from sensors.

Digital twins show the current state of a real system and enable data-driven decisions to be made. They allow problems within a network to be identified proactively. This will help to improve resilience to problems such as water scarcity.

Many projects from across the sector aim to produce valuable data-driven innovation. However, this means extra investment in redeveloping algorithms. This is for each company in their “pioneering” phase. The balance between excitement from new technology, and sustainable value must be found.

What we're aiming to do

We started the project in October 2023 and aim to complete it in September 2024. The project aims to:

• Demonstrate the value of shared standards for digital twins in the UK water industry
• Develop open-source customisable scripts to create a standard digital twin
• Pioneer research and development of graph digital twins within this space

• Put in place a set of recipes for translating water company data into a shared network

The project will yield the scripts to underpin a digital twin proof of concept. It demonstrates the value of data standards and generalisable code. This enables the foundation for further rapid, and consistent innovation.

Many companies are starting to experiment with digital twins. Now is the time to collaborate and standardise for the benefit of our customers. We'll work with Sand Technologies and Severn Trent to  “unlock” this opportunity. This project is a brilliant step towards long-term resilience of our water networks.