Digital Twin – Roadshow at KIT

On January 22, 2020, the Institute for Technology and Management in Construction – Facility Management Department organized the “Digital Twin” event and held it at its institute premises. Several interested companies from a wide range of facility and real estate management sectors accepted the invitation to Karlsruhe and took part in the event, which was sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

The digital twin is the networking of physical objects with one or more digital objects. Sensors make it possible to record data on a large scale and exchange it with each other in real time. This creates the possibility of integrating the existing environment into computer-based systems, resulting in increased efficiency, accuracy, predictability, and ultimately greater economic benefits. The digital transformation is thus also resulting in a transformation of established products, services, business models, and value chains. However, while technology-related sectors such as mechanical and plant engineering are already relatively advanced, the real estate sector in particular has some catching up to do and needs to gain a better understanding of the technological possibilities. The concept of the digital twin in particular offers high efficiency potential at various levels, which needs to be leveraged.

The aim of this event was therefore to bring together the various players in the real estate industry to discuss possible digital transformations, learn from each other, and drive innovation forward together.

A lively exchange took place in the two workshops, in which all participants were able to present their experiences and needs to a digital twin. These two workshops focused on opportunities and risks and, in particular, on understanding:

Business model development/business cases

• How and where can the digital twin optimize business models?
• How can life cycle management be successful with the digital twin?

Maintenance & servicing

• How can maintenance and servicing be optimized with the help of the digital twin?
• How can planning with the customer be optimized with a digital twin?

The participating companies enthusiastically embraced this format, which was held for the first time, so that further events of a similar nature are planned.