Charles Lyons-Burt
Digital twins are tools that create replicas of physical objects so that users can have a better sense of the limits and possibilities of the original device without actually modifying it. Scientists define them as “an attempt to copy all the characteristics of a physical entity into the digital world” and they’re fast on the rise right now, one of the most discussed and buzzed-about new technologies. In terms of government adoption, only about a quarter of all federal agencies have reported usage. However, major projects are underway by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among others, that involve digital twins.
Digital twins are seen as an opportunity to improve decision-making and to sort data. Data centricity has been touted by officials such as Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth as a primary goal of the service branch.
“Data centricity is really about being able to equip users with the data that they need to be able to make the decisions that they need to make, and do the things that they need to do, at a very high level,” said Jennifer Swanson, deputy assistant secretary for data, engineering and software at the Department of the Army.
Swanson will be delivering the keynote address at ExecutiveBiz’s Digital Twins Forum on Nov. 1. This event will answer all of your burning questions about digital twins, consulting experts who are mired in this important issue currently from within the government — Swanson’s keynote will be followed by a panel discussion featuring her Army colleague, Maneuver Combat Systems Project Manager Col. Jeff Jurand. The event is also virtual, so you’re able to tune in from wherever you are. Register today!
As Swanson notes, data centricity is all about harnessing data to create a more efficient and effective decision-making process. Digital twins, then, due to the decision-making benefits that users attest, are a logical solution to the Army’s path to more data centric operations. (According to a recent study by Accenture that surveyed senior defense, aerospace and military executives, digital twins enable decision-making especially by augmenting defense supply chains, helping to make financial and fleet management decisions and gain situational awareness.)
The Technical Management and Analysis Directorate (aka TMAD) is an endeavor by the Marine Corps Systems Command to boost its Marine Corps Enterprise Network (aka MCEN), an interrelated “network-of-networks” uniting architecture, processes, cyber activities, service personnel and more. It is a modernization-minded effort that plans to directly utilize digital twins in its IT strategy in the near future.
Luis Velazquez, chief technology officer for MARCORSYSCOM’s systems engineering and acquisition logistics directorate, echoed others’ thoughts when he commented how digital twins “help make interdependencies apparent and thus provide for a better decision-making process.”
Velazquez’s colleague, TMAD IT and Cyber Technology Lead Keegan Mills, drew a connection between TMAD and MCEN’s push toward the future and digital twins’ capacity for strengthening deterrence strategies in the military.
“Although it’s our job to figure out what the future battlespace is going to look like, historically we don’t always get that right. So, what we’re doing is establishing a capability that’s able to adapt to whatever the situation throws at us. It’s about building a deterrence to make sure that we can manage that,” said Mills.
Mills will be a panelist at the upcoming Digital Twins Forum, hosted by ExecutiveBiz. Save your spot at this Nov. 1 virtual symposium, which is geared both toward people who have a cursory interest in the topic and those who have managed to gain a deeper understanding. Digital twin novices and experts welcome, this will be an engaging morning of programming regardless, and there will be time for audience Q&A during all segments.
