IoT News features CEO Bill Bain’s article: “Simulation with digital twins aids decision-making for large systems”

In this article for IoT News, ScaleOut CEO Bill Bain explains how digital twins are revolutionizing industries such as telematics, aviation, and rail operations. By seamlessly tracking and analyzing vast streams of data from numerous sources in real-time, this service aims to provide operational managers with invaluable insights and predictive capabilities. For example, by using digital twins, "telematics applications could track telemetry from every vehicle in a fleet, and immediately analyze it to identify issues, such as lost or erratic drivers or emerging mechanical problems." The service's unique ability to employ digital twins for simulation testing and complex system modeling sets it apart, offering a versatile tool for decision-makers across various sectors.

One of the key features of the ScaleOut Digital Twins platform is its capacity to simulate large populations of data sources. By building digital twin models for individual data sources and running thousands of these twins, developers can generate simulated telemetry data for comprehensive testing. As the article highlights, "They can test a streaming analytics application running in simulation, such as a telematics application, which also can be implemented with digital twins." This simulation testing proves invaluable in validating analytics code before deploying it in live systems, ensuring robust and effective solutions.

Moreover, the service excels in modeling complex systems with multiple interacting entities. For instance, in the aviation industry, it can simulate thousands of airline passengers, aircraft, airport gates, and air traffic sectors. These digital twins maintain state information, run code for each time step, and exchange messages to model interactions. Dr. Bain notes, "In practice, airlines could use simulations like these to model weather delays and system outages (such as ground stops) and evaluate alternative scheduling decisions that respond to these situations." By offering predictive insights through simulations running faster than real-time, the service empowers operational managers to make well-informed decisions that enhance system efficiency and resilience, marking a significant step forward in data-driven decision-making.