Digital transformation in the fourth industrial revolution

- New technologies and the solutions they provide seldom arise in a vacuum. Understanding the context in which they emerge is helpful in fully appreciating the role, value, and impact. Digital twins and their varied applications are the product of a time of significant global technological transformation. This period, many contend, including me, is the consequence of a fourth industrial revolution. It's a time unlike any other and perhaps the most consequential of all the industrial revolutions. Without exaggeration the world, and by extension, the human experience, is being transformed at a rate and in a manner that has no historical precedent. To understand the connection between the fourth industrial revolution, digital transformation, and digital twins, let's first look at how we got here. The first industrial revolution, which started roughly 300 years ago, began the transition from a largely agrarian economy to an industrial one. This included the introduction of steam power, and the use of new materials, particularly steel. This revolution resulted in mass production techniques, automation, rapid urbanization, and easier movement of people and goods over long distances. 100 years later, the second industrial revolution introduced our ability to leverage electricity, which led to the use of telecommunications, and in particular, the telephone. Electricity brought light bulbs to homes, factories, and cities. This revolution produced the first automobiles and airplanes. Finally, the third revolution, which began around the mid 20th century and is still largely underway, has defined the Information Age. Powered by advanced telecommunications, microchips, and the internet. The world has become hyperconnected and increasingly digital. Over the course of these three revolutions, the world looked and behaved differently after each one than it did before. Old industries were destroyed or reinvented, and many new ones were introduced. By definition, revolutions are dramatic and highly disruptive. Now, in the first decades of the 21st century, a fourth revolution is underway. It is the culmination of all the progress of the previous revolutions, and it's being defined as a convergence of the digital, physical, and biological domains. In this fourth industrial revolution, new technologies and their solutions reach more people at an accelerated speed and often produce greater impact. It is a time characterized by increased expectations and change at a moment's notice. For example, automation and artificial intelligence look to bring higher quality, lower cost products and services to market, but may also displace millions of workers and upend the nature of work. This digital transformation powered by a fourth industrial revolution is expanding the types of solutions and capabilities that can be imagined and delivered. It's also impacting how they can be designed, manufactured, delivered, and experienced. This is the world in which digital twins emerge. Digital twins manifest as a variety of digital replicas of objects and processes in the physical world. They are a convergence of new technologies and capabilities, such as artificial intelligence, superior graphics, the internet of things, big data, simulators, and more. Not only are digital twins the product of the fourth industrial revolution, they are also helping to power it. The role of digital twins and the value they bring is being enabled by the capabilities and expectations of our times. This context can help us understand the current and future roles of digital twins and their impact relative to our organizations, careers, and the opportunities and challenges ahead.