Characterizing the Role of Geospatial Science in Digital Twins

Abstract

Delivering value from digital concepts such as Digital Twins is necessary to address systemic national and global issues, such as achieving Net Zero. However, there is still a lack of consensus over what a Digital Twin (DT) is and efforts to clarify this do not consider the Geospatial perspective. With the aspiration for national- and international-scale DTs, it is important that the Geospatial community understands its role in supporting the realisation of the value of these DTs. Here, a systematic literature review is used to gather DT case studies that use, or are inferred to use, elements of the Geospatial discipline. A total of 77 DT case studies about smart cities, manufacturing, energy, construction and agriculture are reviewed in full, and 24 Geospatial DT dimensions are defined and then compared with existing DT dimensions. The results indicate a considerable use of Geospatial Science in DTs that is not explicitly stated, meaning that there are possibly missed opportunities for collaboration between the Geospatial and DT communities. We conclude that the role of Geospatial Science in DTs is larger than stated and needs to be understood further.