Digital Twins and Instantaneous Decision-making

The reality of information is entirely contained in the speed of its dissemination. ~ Paul Virilio

Even the best data has a shelf life.  Its value diminishes quickly with the passing of time.  In a world of moving customers, employees, vehicles, subcontractors, materials, suppliers, etc., knowing what is happening at a precise time is critical for decision-making, scheduling and planning.  If some information is 90 minutes old, other information is 45 minutes old, and still other information is available in real-time - you are going to have a real challenge integrating that information and forming an accurate and clear picture of reality at a particular moment!

Optimal efficiency and accuracy in the scenario above can only be achieved when the speed of information collection and dissemination is coordinated and in near real-time.  This means having networks and sensors in place to capture data, and integrating it to present an accurate digital twin of reality - in real-time.

For many industries the quality of their information logistics systems, the speed at which decision-making occurs, and the immediacy of actions taken form the new competitive playing field.  In history, many of the greatest battles were won or lost based on the accuracy and timeliness of the information used to decide how best to maneuver armies, navies and air forces.  Enterprises today are in a similar position.

Legacy IT systems that are incapable of supporting a real-time information capturing, transmitting, processing, analyzing, decision-making and acting environment will not survive long in the future.

In the past, long-term planning was the ticket to success.  As the tempo of business increases, short-term planning becomes increasingly important.  Today, nothing short of real-time is good enough to compete in a hyper-competitive global market, and increasingly the ability to project oneself into the future and to start making decisions today about what is seen in the future is necessary.

Today the efficient and real-time coordination of multiple moving parts is mandatory.  That means sensor technologies have become an absolute requirement on the front-end, and IT systems that can support real-time and future time on the back-end.  

What needs to change in your organization to support real-time planning, real-time decision-making, and acting on it?  Real-time decision-making in complex environments today requires AI and automation.  More on that soon...

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Kevin Benedict

Futurist at TCS

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***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.