Unlocking Value Across the UK’s Digital Twin Ecosystem

Digital twins are already enabling the UK to deliver on Net Zero 2050 objectives, supporting the reduction of social inequalities, and driving R&D-led growth.

Looking to the future accelerating the development, adoption, and diffusion of connected digital twins is fast becoming a national-level imperative.

However, the term ‘digital twin’ itself is often seen as a buzzword that frequently creates confusion, and there is a lack of consensus around how digital twins can be leveraged to best effect.

With this in mind, techUK’s Digital Twins Working Group (DTWG) has produced a landmark report- - which is scheduled to be released on Thursday 25th February from 09:00 – 11:00.

The purpose of this report is to drive consensus around terminology, highlight key prizes associated with digital twinning across the UK, and to set out strategic recommendations for industry and Government as to how the UK’s digital twin ecosystem can progress and evolve long-term.

On the same day the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) National Digital Twin programme (NDTp) will be launching the Digital Twin toolkit report. This toolkit is aimed at helping organisations to develop the business case for digital twins. The toolkit has been produced through a collaboration with techUK and NDTp Gemini supporters.

On the day, we will be bringing together key stakeholders and thought leaders from across the ecosystem, and providing short introductions to both reports and opening up for questions from the floor.

AGENDA

Time | Topic | Speaker

09:00 – 09:15 | Welcome buffer & introduction to techUK’s ‘Unlocking value across the UK’s digital twin ecosystem’ report | Tom Henderson, Programme Manager, Smart Infrastructure & Systems (Digital Twins & Smart Cities, techUK)

09:15 – 09:30 | Introduction to the ‘Digital Twin Toolkit’ | Sarah Hayes, Change Stream Lead, National Digital Twin Programme

09:30 – 09:35 | UK Government support for digital twins | Amanda Solloway MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation

09:35 – 09:45 | Digital twins and the UK’s Net Zero 2050 objectives | Neil Thompson, Director of Digital, Atkins, Head of the Construction Innovation Hub (CIH), Vice-Chair DTWG, techUK

09:45 – 09:55 | Digital twins and the reduction of social inequalities across the UK’s social housing sector | Bola Abisogun OBE, Chairman, DiverseCity Surveyors

09:55 – 10:05 | Digital twins and advanced manufacturing in the UK | Rab Scott, Head of Digital, The University of Sheffield, Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)

10:05 – 10:15 | Digital twins and R&D-led growth | Erwin Frank-Schultz, Chief Technology Officer, IBM

10:15 – 10:55 | Triggering digital twin development, adoption, and diffusion across the UK – Live Q&A | Neil Thompson, Director of Digital, Atkins, Head of the Construction Innovation Hub (CIH)
Susanne Baker, Associate Director, Climate, Environment & Sustainability, techUK
Bola Abisogun OBE, Chairman, DiverseCity Surveyors
Erwin Frank-Schultz, Chief Technology Officer, IBM, Chair DTWG, techUK
James Hetherington, Director of Data Science in Practice, The Alan Turing Institute
Rab Scott, Head of Digital, The University of Sheffield, Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)

10:55 – 11:00 | Round-up and next steps | Tom Henderson, Programme Manager, Smart Infrastructure & Systems (Digital Twins & Smart Cities, techUK)

Register today if you would like to attend, and please feel free to reach out to the techUK team (Tom.Henderson@techUK.org) and the NDTp team (ndtprogramme@cdbb.cam.ac.uk) if you would like to learn more about the reports!