Last month, the Nemetschek Group, a vendor of software solutions designed for the AEC/O industry, announced their latest platform launch, dTwin. The software-as-a-solution (SaaS) platform is horizontal and open, and is advertised as a solution for users to manage a facility’s entire lifecycle from design through operations. In the release of the news, the Nemetschek Group claims dTwin "is the first solution in the industry that fuses all data sources of a building into one overarching view.”
The apparent goal of this new solution being offered by the Nemetschek Group is to address the consistent problem in AEC of siloing between departments and stakeholders by bringing all data into one solution. dTwin includes open API interfaces with which users can bring relevant information from a variety of data sources, such as CAD, BIM, and IWMS, among others, along with real-time feeds from building operations.
Much of the platform revolves around the concept of Building Lifecycle Intelligence, which the group has trademarked and is “the first industry-wide data-driven approach that grants all building stakeholders live access to reliable and accurate data, allowing knowledge-based decisions for building projects and operation,” per the dTwin website.
Dr. Jimmy Abualdenien, Head of Digital Twin Product at the Nemetschek Group, said in a press statement, “dTwin intelligently structures the information and properly links it across systems, throughout the complete lifecycle of a building. The benefit is harmonized information streaming from various data sources.”
The idea of needing to manage such large and disparate data sets is seemingly an underrated one in the scope of the construction industry. Generally speaking, it seems that much of the blame for the industry’s relative lagging in embracing technology has been placed at the feet of stakeholders and owners. While there is certainly some truth to that, other factors also play a role. One of those factors is the basic structure of construction projects, which includes layers of different stakeholders, often unaffiliated with one another and thus bringing different data platforms and types to the table.
This is what makes digital twins so valuable, beyond the superficial visualization components. Those are plenty valuable, of course, but by embracing the “true definition” of a digital twin – i.e. a model which incorporates real-time data – this data can not only be contextualized, but also easily accessible for multiple stakeholders. The Nemetschek Group is embracing this concept, stating in their announcement, “With dTwin, decision makers can efficiently track, filter, and query all relevant information and derive purpose-tailored insights.”
With this announcement, the Nemetschek Group adds another solution to their growing list of software products aimed at streamlining workflows in the AEC/O industry. Along with dTwin, Nemetschek Group also owns brand names like Vectorworks, Graphisoft, and Bluebeam, among plenty of others.
“Our new digital twin solution dTwin significantly enhances visibility, increases efficiency, and enables data-driven decision-making”, says César Flores Rodríguez, Chief Division Officer Planning & Design and Digital Twin at the Nemetschek Group, in a press statement. “Particularly the fusion of various data sources in dTwin is a strong differentiator compared to other solutions in the market.”
