Brainstorming Notion of Logical Digital Twin

The purpose of this article is to brainstorm what the definition of a "logical twin" or "logical digital twin" actually is.  I have heard the terms "digital twin" and "mirror world".

Per IBM, a digital twin is defined as:  "A digital twin is a virtual representation of an object or system designed to reflect a physical object accurately."  IBM goes on to define types or categories of digital twins:

  • Component twins or Parts twins: Component twins are the basic unit of a digital twin, the smallest example of a functioning component. Parts twins are roughly the same thing, but pertain to components of slightly less importance.
  • Asset twins: When two or more components work together, they form what is known as an asset. Asset twins let you study the interaction of those components, creating a wealth of performance data that can be processed and then turned into actionable insights.
  • System or Unit twins: The next level of magnification involves system or unit twins, which enable you to see how different assets come together to form an entire functioning system. System twins provide visibility regarding the interaction of assets and may suggest performance enhancements.
  • Process twins: Process twins, the macro level of magnification, reveal how systems work together to create an entire production facility. Are those systems all synchronized to operate at peak efficiency, or will delays in one system affect others? Process twins can help determine the precise timing schemes that ultimately influence overall effectiveness.
Per Amazon Web Services, a digital twin is defined as: "A digital twin is a virtual model of a physical object." Amazon likewise goes on to define types or categories of digital twins:

  • Component twins: Component twins, or parts twins, are the digital representation of a single piece of an entire system. These are essential parts of the operation of an asset, such as a motor within a wind turbine.
  • Asset twins: In digital twin terminology, assets are two or more components that work together as part of a more comprehensive system. Asset twins virtually represent how the components interact and produce performance data that you can analyze to make informed decisions.
  • System twins: A higher level of abstraction from asset twins are system twins, or unit twins. A system twin shows how different assets work together as part of a broader system. The visibility offered by system twin technology allows you to make decisions about performance enhancements or efficiencies.
  • Process twins: Process twins show you the digital environment of a whole object and provide insight into how its various components, assets, and units work together. For example, a digital process twin can digitally reproduce how your entire manufacturing facility is operating, bringing together all of the components within it.
Per Microsoft, a digital twin is defined as: "A digital twin is a virtual model of a real-world environment that is driven with data from business systems and IoT devices." You can build your own digital twin on Microsoft Azure.

Per McKinsey & Company, a digital twin is defined as: "A digital twin is a digital representation of a physical object, person, or process, contextualized in a digital version of its environment."


So what is a "logical twin" or a "logical digital twin"?  I have heard those terms used in Logical Twins - from Stepping Stones to Moon Shot and Logical Twin or Digital Twin!.  I have published my take on a logical digital twin of a financial report.

To me, what I already hear people trying to do is say, "a financial report is too limiting, you need to create a digital twin of the entire economic entity and ditch financial reports."  Yeah, well that might be right...but that is not going to happen for a long, long time if ever.  A financial report is INFORMATION about an economic entity, the important information about the financial status and financial performance of an economic entity that a supply chain has agreed to.  The economic entities, the investors, the regulators, and others in the capital markets created the notion of a "general purpose financial report" in order to make the capital markets function.  And so, I am not even attempting to create a digital twin of an enterprise; I am only creating a digital twin of a general purpose financial report, the accounting working papers that support that financial report, and maybe the audit working papers that a third party used to provide an opinion on the representation of information in that report and whether it is really consistent with the actual financial status and financial performance of that economic entity. Maybe making a digital twin of the entire enterprise can come some time in the future.

To me, there are several things that remain unsaid by IBM and Amazon.  The biggest being are IBM and Amazon using standard semantics and syntax.  Probably not, but I am not sure.  The next reasonable question is, how are they making sure the digital twin is functioning properly?  Is there a schema that enforces the logic of the digital twin?

To me, a logical twin or logical digital twin is:
  • A representation of a logical system, not a physical object from the world like a car or an airplane.
  • It is standards based, not proprietary.
  • It has clear boundaries.
  • It has a logical schema that helps you be sure the logical twin is functioning properly. Functioning properly means that it precisely represents what it is intended to represent, it is completely represented per the specified boundaries, and it is consistent meaning that there are no contradictions or inconsistencies.
  • It has a high-level model, you are not working with a bunch of low-level "atoms" of functionality, you are interacting with "assemblies of atoms"; the information is always in context.
  • A machine or a human can interact with the logical twin.
  • A logical twin is somewhat like a "microsystem", think "spreadsheet microsystem" or a spreadsheet of microsystems.
  • A logical twin can interact with other logical twins.
  • A logical twin embraces the IBM notion of "magnification"; you can work with the logical twin at different levels of granularity.
  • A logical twin is a sort of knowledge product maybe? Or, does a logical twin produce knowledge products?
Most enterprises information is a big mess, a hairball.  How are you possibly going to create a digital twin with messy information?  Not going to happen.  And what, you going to try and get ChatGPT or machine learning to reverse engineer the mess and autogenerate a digital twin?  Good luck with that.

But imagine if (when) enterprises start sorting this out.  What if there was an actual digital twin of an entire economic enterprise.

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