EDITOR ’ S QUESTION

JOAQUÍN SALDAÑA , DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY AND MARKETING , LATIN

AMERICA , HUAWEI

This concept has been present for years . Engineers and designers commonly talk about models for representing objects or situations . Thus , we can speak of scale models ranging from tidal behavior to wind tunnels , simulated to understand the design process . However , these models have the disadvantage of being a scaled representation of reality . Although it ’ s challenging to incorporate all the elements , they have proven to be a fundamental tool in design and construction processes .

So , what is the advantage of Digital Twins ? ICT evolution now provides the ability to handle large volumes of information , with Big Data ; a more extensive number of devices , from IoT , interconnected at the same time ( broadband , 5G ); and process information in near-real-time ( cloud ). We can now

The so-called Smart Cities allow the generation of Digital Twins in a very agile way , greatly facilitating the analysis and development of improvements .

generate digital ‘ models ’ utilizing which we can reflect the reality of a specific environment , having multiple variables ( images , video , temperature , pressure , position , etc .) dynamically interrelated . The

digital representation of all those digital variables that are helping us to know what happens is called the Digital Twin .

Knowing how each variable affects the behavior of reality can now be done directly with ICT , ‘ what-if ’ scenarios can run to predict behaviors and carry simulations to develop improvements without investing large amounts in making physical models .

Digital Twins applications can be many and very diverse . For instance , it ’ s possible to make a Digital Twin from a communications base radio , benefiting the operation and maintenance process by allowing all service engineers arriving at a site for the first time to be thoroughly familiar with the environment by knowing it through its Digital Twin . That coming at the site with prior knowledge of the place , of the same work that must do , increasing efficiency significantly . They will no longer spend time recognizing the area before performing their tasks .

Now let ’ s take this example down to the city level . The so-called Smart Cities allow the generation of Digital Twins in a very agile way , greatly facilitating the analysis and development of improvements for themselves , such as traffic , drainage , transportation , etc ., by testing scenarios in digital environments without affecting the actual operation of the city .

Thus , Digital Twins are significant by-products of technologies applied to Digital Transformation , including broadband access , cloud computing , the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence . I invite you to incorporate this great concept into your operations and enjoy the Digital Twins ’ great capacity in the operations , maintenance , design and improvements of existing systems .

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