Digital twins, built on information you can trust

A digital twin helps you understand, predict and improve a real asset, network or place. We help leaders get the foundations right: the standards, the information, the people and the enabling technologies that make a twin worth having.

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Animation: rail, energy, water and other infrastructure connected to a central connected digital twin

In plain English

What is a digital twin?

A digital twin is a digital representation of something real, such as a bridge, a building, a water network or a whole city, kept in step with it through data connections. Because it stays in step, people can use it to understand what's happening, test what might happen, and make better decisions.

It isn't just a 3D model, and it isn't a dashboard. It's the combination of trusted information, live data and analysis, built for a purpose.

Animation: a rail bridge where labels pop up showing the information behind each element

Why it matters

Digital twins at the heart of asset management

A digital twin feeds and maintains your asset information model, keeping it current with what's really happening on the ground. That trusted information supports strategic asset management: the policies, plans and decisions about what to invest in, maintain or replace. Better decisions change the assets, and the cycle continues.

A cycle: physical assets produce live data for the digital twin, which feeds and maintains the asset information model, which supports strategic asset management and better decisions about the assets

International standards

The standards that shape digital twins

Digital twins now have their own international standards, alongside the information and asset management series they depend on.

Standard	What it covers	Why it matters
ISO/IEC 30173:2023 Digital twin: concepts and terminology	The shared vocabulary: what a digital twin is, its context, life cycle, types, functions and stakeholders.	Everyone means the same thing by the same words.
ISO/IEC 30186:2025 Digital twin: maturity model and guidance for a maturity assessment	A generic maturity model, assessment indicators and guidance for assessing how mature a digital twin is.	A common yardstick for where you are and what to improve next.
ISO/IEC TR 30172:2023 Digital twin: use cases	Real-world examples of digital twins, including smart cities and manufacturing.	Learn from what others have built.
ISO 19650 series	Managing information across the whole life of built assets, including the asset information model.	The trusted information a twin is built on. ISO 19650 explained
ISO 55000 series	Asset management: getting value from assets across their whole life.	Keeps every twin tied to real asset decisions.

ISO/IEC 30173, ISO/IEC 30186 and ISO/IEC TR 30172 come from ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 41, the international committee for the Internet of Things and digital twin.

Digital twin maturity

How mature is your digital twin?

The maturity model in ISO/IEC 30186 gives organisations a common way to assess a digital twin and plan its next steps. In practice, maturity comes down to a few questions:

ConvergenceHow closely does the twin stay in step with the real thing?

CapabilityWhat can it do: describe, diagnose, predict or act?

Integrated viewDoes it join up information across systems and disciplines?

TrustworthinessCan people rely on its information and results?

Ask about a digital twin maturity assessment

A rail bridge over a river with callouts linking its parts to records in the asset information model

The foundations

A twin is only as good as the information behind it

Most digital twin projects that struggle do so because the underlying information isn't trusted: it's incomplete, inconsistent or locked in separate systems. The asset information model in the ISO 19650 series, good master data and a clear location for every asset are the foundations a twin stands on.

Keeping a twin in step with reality needs regular capture: UAV/UAS (drone) surveys, laser scanning and updates from people in the field, all tied to accurate geodetic control. That is where geodesy and geomatics come in.

Asset registers and information models

Connected digital twins

From one asset to a connected system of systems

The biggest benefits come when twins connect: rail, energy, water and the places people live, working together. That needs shared standards, shared meaning and interoperable systems across organisations.

Asset twinsOne bridge, one building, one pump

System twinsA network, an estate, a campus

Connected twinsSeveral systems working together

Place and regionCities and national infrastructure

How we help

Assess, roadmap, mentor, implement

We help leaders decide where a digital twin will genuinely help, and build the foundations to get there, across leadership, people, process and enabling technologies.

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