Recent years have seen a major shift in the way we think and talk about the concept of “digital twins,” going from a theoretical buzzword that few could define to an actionable tool being used by a number of industries with multiple emerging technologies coming together (albeit with some remaining definition questions). If there was any doubt as to whether or not the industry has moved beyond digital twin being simply a buzzword, a new partnership between industry leaders should quell those.
On Tuesday, the Nemetschek Group, an AEC/O software provider which boasts companies like Graphisoft, Bluebeam, and Vectorworks, among others, and Hexagon’s Geosystems Division announced a new partnership. The two European-based companies described their partnership as having the goal to “accelerate the digital transformation of the AEC/O industry.”
The release of the news notes that the first step will revolve around driving adoption of digital twins “by offering their customers a seamlessly integrated end-to-end workflow for efficient and sustainable building operations.”
“Jointly, Nemetschek and Hexagon will provide customers the tools, services and expertise for an end-to-end digital twin workflow by joining the up-to-date building data through Hexagon’s latest reality capture solutions with the smart and efficient building operations powered by Nemetschek’s dTwin,” the Nemetschek Group said in their announcement of the partnership.
It seems that these first steps around digital twins will heavily involve dTwin, which was first launched by the Nemetschek Group in October of last year. The software-as-a-solution (SaaS) platform is presented as a way to manage a facility’s entire lifecycle from design through operation phases, with Nemetschek Group saying at the time that it "is the first solution in the industry that fuses all data sources of a building into one overarching view.”
In order for these digital twins to provide the most valuable insights, they of course need to contain the highest-quality data, which is where Hexagon specializes. The company provides end-to-end reality capture workflows to produce accurate spatial data about a given area, as well as artificial intelligence powered solutions to support more of the simulation and analytics capabilities within a digital twin. Geo Week News has reached out to Hexagon to hear about any specific products that may be included in this partnership, and will update this story if and when a response is received.
As noted at the top, beyond the tangible results that will come about from this partnership – the specifics of which are still a bit unclear for the time being – there is a more metaphorical symbolism of these two industry leaders coming together around digital twins. While the idea of true digital twins was once theoretical, the boom in AI, increased power and accessibility of reality capture, and improved connectivity for sensors have all combined to open up real value from these workflows. Whether it be running simulations of new processes in a facility, working with a digital twin through a construction project, or even running larger digital twins for entire cities, technology companies and asset owners alike are recognizing this value.
“We are very excited to partner with Hexagon”, says César Flores Rodríguez, Chief Division Officer Planning & Design, and Digital Twin at the Nemetschek Group, in a statement. “Together we will build digital twins for the large market of existing buildings, making those future proof. Also we aim to address efficient and sustainable building operations and smart renovation, retrofit or revitalization projects.”
Thomas Harring, President Geosystems division, Hexagon, adds that “The future is here – digital twins make work easier, insights available and decisions better. With that, they are paving the way for a more sustainable future. Through our combined strength, we make this a reality for our customers and supercharge the buildings and infrastructure industry with data continuity and digital twins at scale.”
