Bentley Systems becomes founding member of Digital Twin Consortium

Bentley Systems has elevated its participation in the Digital Twin Consortium by becoming a founding member. Having been a member since the consortium’s launch in May 2020, Bentley will deepen its collaboration as a founding member and become a member of its steering committee.

One way that Bentley says it is helping advance the Digital Twin Consortium’s mission is through defining the terminology used to describe digital twins. Casey Mullen, distinguished architect, strategic technologies at Bentley Systems, has contributed his expertise as a lead author of the Digital Twin Consortium’s definition of a digital twin. Mullen helped unveil the new definition during a panel discussion at the IOT Solutions World Congress on 3 December.

The consortium’s digital twin definition is:

• A digital twin is a virtual representation of real-world entities and processes, synchronised at a specified frequency and fidelity.
• Digital twin systems transform business by accelerating holistic understanding, optimal decision-making and effective action.
• Digital twins use real-time and historical data to represent the past and present and simulate predicted futures.
• Digital twins are motivated by outcomes, tailored to use cases, powered by integration, built on data, guided by domain knowledge and implemented in IT/OT systems.
   

“I’ve enjoyed collaborating with representatives from diverse industries in the consortium’s Technology, Terminology, and Taxonomy Working Group to develop a set of practical definitions to inform those who are acquiring or implementing digital twins,” Mullen said.

As a founding member, Bentley says it is also contributing its advice and technology expertise to the Digital Twin Consortium’s steering committee. Adam Klatzkin, vice president, iTwin Platform, at Bentley Systems, and Mullen are helping advance the Digital Twin Consortium’s strategic roadmap, working groups and governance as members of the consortium’s steering committee.

“We are delighted that Bentley is a founding member of Digital Twin Consortium and is also a member of our steering committee,” said Dr Richard Soley, executive director, Digital Twin Consortium. “The consortium looks forward to high-level guidance on digital twin technologies and continued contributions based on Bentley’s experience and knowledge of the infrastructure industry.”

Bentley recently expanded its digital twin offerings with the iTwin Platform, a new platform-as-a-service offering for developers with openness as a guiding principle. The platform supports a broad range of design tools — from Bentley and third parties — and file interchange formats including IFC.

To jump-start awareness and adoption of the iTwin digital twin platform, Bentley recently launched the iTwin Partner Program, the iTwin Ventures Fund, and hosted the inaugural iTwin Developer Conference.

Digital Twin Consortium was formed by non-profit trade association Object Management Group with Ansys, Dell, Lendlease and Microsoft, to demonstrate the value of digital twin technology and accelerate the digital twin market. As the authority in digital twins, the consortium brings together industry, government and academia to drive consistency in the vocabulary, architecture, security and interoperability of digital twin technology. Digital Twin Consortium aims to influence the direction of digital twin technology development, become the focal point for digital twin thought leadership and promote, evolve and refine digital twin best practices and benefits.

Image: ©stock.adobe.com/au/nirutft