The team behind The Apollo Protocol white paper, which calls for a common language across digital twins, will reveal details of how they will set up The Apollo Forum at a live-streamed launch event on 25 October.
The work, which represents the combined efforts of many organisations including The Alan Turing Institute, has already drawn praise from the digital twin community in manufacturing, technology, and construction and the built environment sector.
Currently, the manufacturing and built environment sectors are developing digital twins separately using different language and business models, yet many of our challenges, such as net zero and economic sustainability, require sectors to work together.
Launched last month, The Apollo Protocol sets out a proposal to unlock the benefits of digital twins between these sectors. It argues for the establishment of The Apollo Forum to explore four key themes:
- A single value chain for information and data services and requirements
- Circular supply chains between the sectors
- Optimised performance through technology enabled information sharing, and
- Managed human capital and resources between the sectors
The Forum will be established by practical cross-sector events where manufacturers and asset owners can articulate their data needs or technology offerings to map out the beginnings of a unified value chain, exploring solutions and unblocking practical barriers.
The work is to be supported through Innovate UK to develop the UK’s capability in Cyber Physical Infrastructure and builds on research already happening at The Alan Turing Institute, developing digital twins to address societal challenges while generating real-world benefits. To date, the Turing and its partners have already invested £26 million in digital twin research and innovation.
Professor Mark Girolami, Chief Scientist at The Alan Turing Institute, said: “We’re delighted to be working with so many important organisations to improve how we interact on digital twins across different sectors. We look forward to working more collaboratively to ensure our digital twins research continues to have real-world impact.”
Neil Thompson, Digital Manufacturing and Performance Lead at the Construction Leadership Council and IET Built Environment Panel Chair, said: “The data needs of manufacturers and asset owners across our sectors are hampered by a lack of collaboration and language barriers. The Apollo Forum events we have planned will enable us to map out those needs, identify technical and other support and ultimately develop valuable cross-sector solutions for the participants. Along the way we will begin to identify how to write The Apollo Protocol, but we will achieve it by taking practical steps to solving real life problems.”
The Apollo Protocol represents the combined efforts of the IET, The Construction Leadership Council (CLC), The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), The High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB), The Construction Innovation Hub, The Digital Twin Hub, techUK and The Alan Turing Institute. The project has the support of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Innovate UK.
