Are digital twins being designed for asset managers?

The research, published in ICE Management, Procurement and Law, drew on interviews with 122 people. Of these, 20 identified as asset managers, 15 as project managers, 46 as working in IT and digital roles, and 29 in engineering roles. Nearly half of those interviewed were in the infrastructure sector.

To bridge the gap between the design of a digital twin and its use by asset managers, the research authors recommend that project managers should review the asset manager’s data requirements early in the project and ensure that design features are built into the asset to capture the data.

Furthermore, project managers should ensure that software solutions are developed during the design stage to expose the data to the asset manager in the operational phase. The authors noted: “Specifically, in the infrastructure sector, the proponents of BIM would argue that BIM serves this purpose, but the authors have seen that it is not delivering this value to the asset managers, and this needs to be reviewed.”

The authors also recommend that project managers should ensure that the through-life digital twin strategy is defined before the design stage of the project. Again, they noted: “Specifically, in the infrastructure sector, [project managers] should avoid assuming that BIM will deliver all the asset manager’s digital twin needs and define the asset digital twin strategy before any solutions have been selected.”

The research authors also recommend that asset managers “engage more with their internal and external suppliers, both those involved in the capex phases and those who are engaged in their operations, to understand what data is being collected and produced”.

Asset managers should also “invest in understanding better what systems their suppliers are using and how these could interface with both the suppliers and the asset owner organisation”.

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