Siemens and Microsoft unify languages for digital twins

Siemens and Microsoft, in collaboration with the W3C consortium, have announced a commitment to promote the unification of the Digital Twin Definition Language (DTDL) with the international standards organisation’s Thing Description standard. The expectation is that unifying the two languages that work with digital twins will help provide more consistent modelling experiences, reducing fragmentation in the evolving Internet of Things (IoT) landscape.

Digital twins are virtual replicas of objects, processes, or systems that reflect their concrete counterparts in a digital environment. They make it possible to monitor, predict and improve the performance of assets by carrying out faster and less costly simulations than if they were done in the real world.

In general, customers deploy a combination of digital twin solutions from different suppliers, requiring more integration efforts. The convergence of languages will make it easier to integrate and interoperate systems.

According to Siemens, the company already promotes the W3C Thing Description standard in building management, energy distribution and smart grid products and, by guaranteeing interoperability with Microsoft Azure, will be able to provide important benefits to customers.

“We see the convergence of two very similar languages for digital twins, DTDL and W3C Thing Description, as an essential move that will give customers the ability to describe the physical world in a way that is independent of specific Internet of Things platforms. This strategic alliance underscores our commitment to fostering collaboration and embracing open platforms,” says Thomas Kiessling, chief technology officer at Siemens Smart Infrastructure.

On the other hand, Microsoft’s Digital Twin Definition Language enables modelling of the physical world alongside Azure services, and the W3C Thing Description standard offers an interoperable representation for device interfaces and the incorporation of a set of industry-standard concepts and categories (ontologies). According to the companies, both languages have shown many conceptual similarities during the initial stages of convergence.

“Ever since we created the Digital Twin Definition Language and opened up the source code of its specifications and reference implementations, we’ve been planning to standardise it through a consortium like the W3C. So merging DTDL and W3C Thing Description, in close partnership with Siemens, is the natural next step in our journey to democratise digital twins,” explains Erich Barnstedt, chief architect of standards, consortia and Industrial IoT, from Microsoft’s Azure team.

Digital twins for the whole company?

Yes, this practice is possible and has even earned an acronym, as is always the case in the IT world. The adoption of digital twins for entire organisations is known as DTOs or Digital Twins of Organizations. It’s a relatively new concept that is gaining momentum as digital technologies become increasingly integrated into business.

It is a virtual and dynamic representation of an entire organisation, taking into account processes, people, systems, assets, and data. With this model, it’s easier to analyse how processes and systems are working and where there are bottlenecks or inefficiencies, then try out adjustments virtually and, if successful, apply them to the real world.

According to the Forbes article, there are a few guidelines that must be met when you want to explore this simulation approach to business management:

1) The first step can be seen as the discovery phase, with the collection, integration, and analysis of data from various sources. At this stage, Artificial Intelligence can help predict scenarios and make simulations, including using natural language processing to evaluate strategies, analyse market trends and extract insights.

2) Another fundamental move is to define objectives. It’s best to start with a specific area and identify which systems are within the scope of that function. The model should only be extended to other parts of the organisation after this stage.

3) The third step is to exploit existing software assets and technologies. Many organisations already have untapped resources which, when identified in the discovery process, can be used effectively and even reveal opportunities for improvement.

Forbes points out that DTOs’ main challenges often don’t revolve around technology, but around people. In addition, the power of DTOs comes from supporting decision-making based on forecasts rather than past events. Finally, by presenting a model of the organisation with continuous monitoring of processes, they can eliminate a great deal of rework and replanning, generating significant results and helping to fundamentally change the way things are done.

The digital twin market is expected to total $154 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 35.6 per cent in 2019, according to a new report by GlobalData.