Did you know that 95 percent of construction data goes unused during building operations? Digital Twins may change the way owners interpret—and ultimately use—that data, but they have to know where to start. Digital Twin is an industry buzzword these days, and there is no shortage of companies who claim to be experts on these data-rich models. However, if the concept of a Digital Twin is going to survive its initial 15 minutes of fame, we must stop viewing Digital Twins as products and start seeing them for what they really are: intricately detailed processes. Every Digital Twin solution on the market looks and functions differently from the next. However, they all share a similar goal: to re-create a physical space in a dynamic, 3D environment. But the true appeal of a Digital Twin lies in the data. While most Digital Twin solutions have figured out how to integrate data and models, only a few have figured out how to present that data in an immersive, interactive and useful way.

When reading modern engineering articles about infrastructure and the built environment, it is difficult to find an occurance where Digital Twins are not mentioned. By all accounts, a digital twin of a fixed asset or real-world system is immensely valuable and can be used to support a number of use cases. But, building a digital twin requires a significant amount of data. So, how does one start to build a digital twin? Three-dimensional (3D) basemaps produced from high resolution aerial imagery serve as the foundation and fabric for digital twins. Automated feature extraction from AI uniquely identifies critical infrastructure and can be used to grow an urban digital twin, removes the guess work and shortening the digital twin development time. For engineering professionals interested in exploring the world of digital twins, Nearmap offers a variety of foundational products for getting started.

Digital twins for building owners are emerging tools for facilities management, operations, and maintenance. The large benefits of digital twins to overall businesses beyond traditional practice are just being realized. As an iteration of digital twins from the digital manufacturing, product, and machine space, the current industry definition is this: Digital twins are software representations of assets, and processes that are used to understand, predict, and optimize performance in order to achieve improved business outcomes. Digital twins consist of three components: a data model, a set of analytics or algorithms, and knowledge. This roundtable will be jointly hosted by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts (WDPR), Brandon Wlosinski and Autodesk Consulting, and Dorian Chau to explore, define, and understand what digital twins mean for the building industry today. Bob Bray, senior director at ConstrucTwin at Autodesk, will provide his insights to the roundtable, as will other invited enterprise building owners.

"IoT sensors and smart devices are all around. BIM is all around. Why not marry BIM with IoT - and create the next generation powerful disruptive Digital Twins for a better today and tomorrow? Digital Twin is the Living Model with dynamics/functionality. It's the virtual representation of spaces, objects, smart devices and sensors binding in a single place to view the live updates, to perform analytics and simulations, and to create predictions for better decision making and predictive maintenance. Digital Twins are one of the top—and most discussed—industry disruptive technologies. Combining the power of BIM using Forge with IoT devices using Azure Digital twin/IoT services will create the digital twin that can help in multiple ways. This class will introduce the basics of Digital Twin and its applications and then talk about how to bring Forge and Azure APIs together to make a digital twin web application that can showcase live data and analytics."

Everybody’s talking about Digital twins, but what are they? What does it take to get or build one? What are the challenges? During this session, we’ll go over the process involved in achieving a Digital Twin. We’ll explore what it is (as it could be different things depending on what you need), we will examine the uses and benefits, we will go over the technology involved and analyze the steps to get into the Digital Twins world.

Digital twins are digital replicas of physical assets—a bridge between the physical and virtual worlds. Combining real-time data from multiple sources (including your design data) with a 3D interactive model can help you generate greater insights into your project—leading to performance improvements at all phases of the project lifecycle. In this session, you’ll hear from three companies that are using Forge to power their digital twins. They’ll talk you through why they needed to create a digital twin, and how they achieved it with Forge.

The construction industry made the move to building information modeling (BIM) more than a decade ago using tools like Revit software to improve design and construction. From an FM perspective, the industry is now moving toward smarter buildings, and digital twins are becoming increasingly important. Ironically, depending on who you ask, industry experts will agree on applications for digital twins, but they often cannot agree on a definition. In this session, a diverse panel of experts will discuss different aspects of digital twins and definitions. We’ll present an overview of digital twins and the results of IT Community of IFMA’s “Annual Digital Twin Survey.” The presentation will then move to a discussion where panelists will share their insights into current and future applications of digital twins using tools like Autodesk Tandem software. This session will help clarify what a digital twin is; what should be expected as a deliverable from the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry; and the level of adoption within FM.

Digital twins are the latest buzzword in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Are you being asked to deliver a digital twin to your clients? As an owner are you looking to have greater insights into your facilities’ performance and operations? Digital twins are simply the next step in the digital transformation of your business. This talk will help you cut through the hype, and understand the value of a digital twin and what is required to create one. Furthermore, we’ll introduce a new technology from Autodesk called Tandem that can maximize your existing data to create a digital twin. We’ll also discuss how Autodesk Tandem can integrate with new and existing systems to connect the digital model to the operational and performance data of its physical counterpart, unlocking the true value of a digital twin.

The digital twin is a concept resulting from the advance and convergence of many different technologies. This has both complicated and over-simplified industry discourse on the topic. Often lost in the discussion about the tech and the solution vendors is what a digital twin describes (the virtualization of a real-world thing or process), the value proposition (capitalizing on digital technologies to improve how we understand, predict, and manage change to our built world), and how to properly engage with the concept (starting with use cases!). Sean OIcott, VP of product and innovation at Gafcon Digital, will join Casey Mahon, senior manager of customer adoption at Autodesk Tandem, to provide a background on the concept, a summary of current and future design and construction use cases, an evaluation of solution vendors on the market, and a demonstration of an example construction use case—the Smart Jobsite—using Autodesk Tandem software.

GitHub has revolutionized collaboration among programmers, enabling efficient project development through collaborative contributions. Imagine applying this ideology to the design and construction industry, where all project data can be collected, integrated, and used collaboratively. We can use digital twins as the GitHub of project data by eliminating the traditional turnover process and validating data during construction. This presentation will explore the transformative potential of the digital twin as a collaborative environment for gathering, validating, analyzing, and delivering project data. By embracing this innovative approach, we can enhance project efficiency, streamline data management, and drive successful project outcomes. Join us to discover how digital twins can revolutionize project data collaboration and propel the construction industry forward.

If you haven’t heard, the latest industry buzz is all about Digital Twins. If you have heard about Digital Twins, chances are you have some vague understanding about what they are, but possibly don’t fully understand the concept. Essentially, Digital Twins are a way that we can visually consume data in a plethora of different ways, through various platforms and peripherals. The goal of a Digital Twin is to get real-time feedback from our environment in ways that allow us to quickly analyze and react to data.

When this digital twin journey was first shared by Brandon Wlosinski (Walt Disney Parks and Resorts—WDPR) and Dorian Chau (Autodesk) at Autodesk University 2020 as a roundtable discussion on digital twins for building owners, it focused on objectives, value, and vision. This year, the speakers are expanding the session into in a panel discussion to include Ken Kurihara from WDPR; Bill Kwon, VP of Digital at CRTKL, and Bob Bray, Autodesk Tandem GM, as well as invited enterprise business leaders. The panelists will share their experiences with industry challenges involving the optimization of project data for digital handover and other digital twin use cases. Digital twin practices have gained momentum in the building industry in the past year, and we will discuss the impact on and value to the businesses and changes in management approaches. Our panelists will share their perspectives on why digital twins are important from both the owners’ and consultants’ perspectives with digital handover, smart operations, and greater building insights.

Our industry is changing, and the way we collaborate and deliver must change with it. This change is having disruptive effects on how infrastructure is planned, engineered, and constructed. Digital twins (or virtual representations of the real world, including physical objects, processes, relationships, and behaviors) are promising to be a solution to creating deliverables that provide centralized, purpose-built access to stakeholders along the design and construction supply chain. We are at a time when the distance between building information modeling (BIM) and geographic information system (GIS) is shrinking, and emerging workflows require sharing new system engagement views with more collaborators, including asset owners. Although some customers are seeing the benefit of a digital twin, others wonder how best to modernize their approach to reduce risk, increase transparency in infrastructure asset delivery, and bridge information gaps between project and operator participants.

Join us for an engaging session on digital twins, and discover how this innovative technology can transform the way you manage your properties and facilities! With a lot of talk about digital twins (DT), Multiconsult wanted to gain first-hand experience by creating a DT Proof of Concept for a rehabilitated office building. In this session you’ll learn the value DT can create for the building's operators and owners, the obstacles and challenges Multiconsult and their partners faced building the DT, and what they learned from the process. Discover how digital twins can help you remotely monitor your facilities in near-real time and achieve your sustainability goals.

Digital-twin technology enables users to create dynamic, data-rich replicas of their buildings that connect all stakeholders and systems. But how do you get started on your digital-twin journey with Autodesk Tandem software? Building information modeling (BIM) data integrations into Autodesk Tandem workflows are becoming an essential component of today’s facilities management, enabling organizations to optimize operations, reduce costs, and improve the user experience. This presentation will explore how to implement data throughout the project lifecycle, whether it's a new construction or an existing building. You'll learn first-hand from a virtual design and construction (VDC) expert, a facility manager, and the Autodesk Tandem team, representing all project stakeholders' perspectives. Gain insights from recent project case studies that demonstrate the versatility and benefits of digital-twin technology across various applications, including the new Windover-built Phillips Exeter Academy (PEA) dorm project and how it innovatively optimized facilities management.

In an era dominated by big data, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and generative AI, the question on everyone's mind is: How can these groundbreaking innovations impact your business? Don't miss out on the opportunity to discover the transformative potential of collaborative digital twin solutions in our exclusive session, hosted by experts from Lenovo and NVIDIA. Picture a world where work becomes more efficient, interactions with decision-makers become seamless, and your supply chain operates smarter than ever before. With the fusion of Lenovo Workstations and the latest innovations in NVIDIA Omniverse Enterprise, we're here to demystify the challenges of digital twin deployment. Join us, and embark on a journey to master the art of intelligent transformation (I.T). Arm yourself with the knowledge and tools to not just survive but thrive in this new era of business excellence. Your future awaits!

AIA CES  Believe it or not, digital twins are more than just a buzzword! Owners are realizing there's a lot more they can do with the (on average) 95%+ of design and construction data that goes to waste-and they're turning to us to help them put that data to meaningful use. In this session, you'll hear about some real-world case studies showcasing why digital twins are here to stay. Of course, the path to development and integration is never without bumps along the way. We'll discuss common obstacles and challenges in getting started with digital twins, and we'll evaluate the growing digital twin ecosystem with platforms like Autodesk Tandem technology, Esri ArcGIS, EcoDomus, Unreal Engine, and many others that can serve a variety of owner needs. Join this vibrant roundtable and share your thoughts and experiences with digital twins and digital transformation in general. Let's discuss ways we can help transition our industry toward a better future!

Digital twins can serve as a shadow representation of your assets—be it a building information modeling (BIM) corpus, CAD models of a facility, the equipment instruction manuals, or the interconnect between the systems. Adding sensors to these shadow representations allows for real-time tracking, evaluation, and prediction of facility and asset performance. In this presentation, we will introduce you to our digital twin platform called Autodesk Tandem and its new API. Following that, we will guide you through the process of developing your first digital twin, using the Autodesk Tandem APIs. By the end of the session, you’ll know how to make your own digital twin and integrate the Autodesk Tandem API with your own systems and data. We’ll wrap up with examples of more-advanced real-world use-cases that involve IoT sensors and time-series databases.

During the BIM (Building Information Modeling) evolution, we’ve seen many different solutions for many different contexts. Easy access to information means that our customers are coming to us much better informed and more curious. During the COVID-19 crisis, there was an abundance of information available via webinars, online workshops, and other channels that helped people understand BIM better. But how do we keep moving forward? Much has been heard about digital twins, the new proposal for project analysis in construction and postconstruction processes. Innovation raises questions such as: “How am I supposed to offer this solution to my customers?” In this class, we’ll explore the differences between a digital twin and an intelligent model, help you understand Unity solutions for digital twins, and highlight the advantages of this innovation by showing you how we can do it with the support of Autodesk partner Unity.

Operational digital twins link real-time IoT data with digital representations of real-world processes to model what is happening and to optimize what is going to happen next. In 2021, Autodesk acquired Innovyze’s industry-leading water modeling solutions along with the Info360 SaaS platform delivering an operational digital twin for water catchment, treatment and distribution. Info360 joins together water simulation models used by most utilities worldwide with cloud technology, IoT monitoring, machine learning, AI, and physics-based modeling techniques to create a dynamic digital twin for the entire water processing cycle. We will demonstrate Info360. We will review trends in operational digital twins and how simulation models can move to the cloud to enable real-time simulation. We will review machine learning and AI modeling approaches that are being used to optimize in real time. We will assess the challenges in deploying these systems, and what you should do to prepare.