Theoretical and practical aspects of creating a digital twin of an organization

Aim. The work aimed to identify the main approaches to creating digital twins of an organization (hereinafter referred to as DTO) and develop recommendations for their creation and implementation in accordance with the state of digital transformation of Russian organizations.

Objectives. The work seeks to study the features of the current stage of development of the digital twin concept, as well as the directions of its evolvement; to propose a classification of digital twins depending on the complexity of the digital technologies used in them; to identify the boundaries of the concept of “digital twin of an organization”; to review existing approaches to the implementation of DTO; and to develop a model of the DTO architecture.

Methods. The work employed the methods of analyzing scientific publications of Russian and international authors, theoretical generalization and systematization of data obtained from open sources, as well as economic and organizational modeling.

Results. The study identified five stages of development of the digital twin concept. This concept, in accordance with the general law of evolution, developed under the influence of digital technologies corresponding to the period, while expanding its scope of application from a part of a product to a system, with an organization or an industrial enterprise being its special case. The work presents the characteristics of digital twins of the current stage, and proposes their classification depending on the complexity of implementation technologies. The work also identifies the boundaries of the concept of “digital twin of an organization.” The author formulated definitions of the concepts of “digital model of an organization” and “digital twin of an organization,” and outlined the key approaches to creating a DTO. Based on the classical approach, a model of the digital twin architecture for an industrial enterprise was developed.

Conclusions. As part of the implementation of digital transformation, understanding the features of the digital twin functioning and structure enables management to make informed management decisions that help maintain the organization competitiveness and increase the flexibility of its business activities. The developed model of the DTO architecture can be used by managers of enterprises implementing digital transformation.

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