Digital twins forsupercharged
decision making.
Private 5G enabling new use cases
for government and business.

Digital twins for supercharged decision making

Foreword – Rob Le Busque
The realisation of digital twins is a combination of imagination and reality.
In the 1960s we imagined going into outer space. A digital twin was just one of the tools used
to make that happen – to ensure informed decision making, supported by data – was available
at important steps throughout each space exploration mission. That application drove thecontinued development of digital twins.
Today, what was imagined is now a reality and rockets are launched regularly into space.
Fast forward to our future, and digital twins will evolve to become an important tool for industries
like cyber, health, manufacturing, infrastructure and planning which manage large, interactive
systems requiring information in real time.
We are proud to be at the forefront of digital innovation: delivering multiple realities, poweredby the 5G network, driven by imagination.
I trust this whitepaper provides you with useful insights and food for thought about yourown innovation agenda.

Rob Le BusqueRegional Vice President
Asia Pacific, Verizon Business Group2

Digital twins for supercharged decision making

What is a digital twin?
A digital twin is a virtual replica of a physical object, process or real-world system.
It can mirror its counterpart in real time, or at least near-real time, using data fromsensors in the physical system.
A digital twin can represent a building, logistics system, city, manufacturing process or even a person. The model
can be updated and adjusted with incoming data sets, allowing it to represent actual conditions and enable informed
decision making.
Data from multiple models can also be blended to form a view across a number of real-world systems, leading toricher insights for business and government.

3Digital twins for supercharged decision making

The evolution of digital twins
Digital models are not a new concept.
NASA used the digital twin concept in
its 1960s space program to create
replicas of spaceships that carefully
mirrored each decision made during
missions. These digital models havebecome more sophisticated since then,with improved telecommunications anddigitisation technologies enabling
increased control and quicker reflectionof the real world and associated scenarios.

Bridging the physical and virtual worlds using 5G-enabled
sensors, Internet of Things (IoT) and data will lead topowerful connections to deliver smart cities and smart
industry solutions.
“The maturing and evolution of digital twins over the60 years is mainly down to the speed of the process,”says Rob Le Busque, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific atVerizon. “Digital twins started as static solutions that weren’t
designed for efficiency. The model was built, then data wasapplied, then the analysis was undertaken manually.
“Fast forward to the 21st Century, and 5G, Mobile Edge
Computing (MEC) and ubiquitous IoT sensors will enable theinstant classification and sorting of real-time data – which inturn enables interactive digital twins that turn this data into
powerful decision-making tools.”

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Digital twins for supercharged decision making

Why use digital twins?

The use cases for digital twins are many and varied, across both the public and private
sectors. Digital twin technology is helping a number of industries reduce operational costs,
increase productivity, improve performance and innovate new ways to operate.
One of the main uses of digital twins is running ‘what if’scenarios: to model what would happen, for example, if you
run a production machine for a few more hours per day,or rearrange the layout of a factory floor. This can enable
companies to accurately predict the impact of changes more
quickly and cost effectively than running physical tests.
Digital twins enabled by 5G leverage a powerful combinationof AI, data and digitalisation, creating seamless information
for real-time decision making. Public sector agencies, forexample, can take advantage of real-time 5G modelling withdigital twins beyond static infrastructure models. The overlayof new data will allow them to access greater potential from
cities, citizens, and critical infrastructure.
“Interconnecting digital twins may sound like science fiction,
but they’re already being leveraged in commercial solutions
for increased insights, greater efficiencies and cost savings,”
continues Le Busque. “We really are diving into virtual
realms of possibility when we consider the applicationsof digital twins.”

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Digital twins for supercharged decision making

Applications of digital twins
Digital twins have been used in themanufacturing industry for some time
to assess impacts and identify issues on
production lines. They are also used to“stress test” manufactured products forreliability and performance.
5G-enabled manufacturing digital twins will be able toaggregate design, manufacturing, production planning,
maintenance, repair and operations data to allow complete
simulation of an actual production process and enable“on the fly” decision making – which in turn will generate
more opportunities to reduce waste, speed up processes
and limit energy use.
Governments are looking at digital twin technology for along-term view of their cities. Interactive digital twins allow
them to understand the impact of development decisions foryears, or even decades, to come. Digital twins are also helping
governments make better decisions on maintenance andwhere to invest in infrastructure.
For local councils, 5G modelling with digital twins allow thenear-real-time analysis of event management and moreaccurate forecasting by modelling traffic congestion andpopulation service needs. 5G-enabled digital twins cancollect near real-time feeds from devices, sensors, citizens
and infrastructure to provide this information instantly andaccurately.
Retailers can now apply sensors to all aspects of their value
chain, allowing for the monitoring of people and footfall in
stores and among individual product lines, for insights into
what people are purchasing. Accrued data enables nearreal-time decisions about discounting the price or increasing
the stock of certain items.
The building and construction industry uses digital twins
to support its safety-first objective and overcome issues
stemming from changes or delays due to supply chain
issues. Smart construction companies are using digital twins
coupled with multiple on-site sensors and drones to assess
development progress and the impact of potential changes.
Digital twin technology provides situational awareness forfirst responders, giving near real-time feeds from sensors thatindicate weather conditions during natural disasters or civil
unrest issues in law enforcement situations. Connecting firstresponders to existing digital twins can provide immediatesituational awareness in a crisis. For example, a university
with a campus model of crowd flows and facilities usage
could provide the data required to respond to any incidents
on campus.

6Digital twins for supercharged decision making

Digital twins for complex
problem-solving
Governments globally are under pressure to address complex challenges such as
climate change, city and urban developments, impacts of the global pandemic and escalating
cybercrime – and many are turning to digital solutions. The Australian government, for example,
has committed $140 billion in funding to support the digitisation of infrastructure projects 2.
Digital twins offer the ability to collaborate and share information across different parties, from regulatory agencies to asset managers. They canalso help governments better understand the costs of maintaining and updating critical infrastructure by using sensors to collect data in real time,then analyse these datasets without the need for inefficient manual measurement and human intervention.
Ultimately complex issues, such as smart cities and sustainable mobility, require these integrated and data driven approaches to enablelong-term outcomes.

$140B
committed to support
infrastructure digitisation2

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2021/10/18/the-digitalisationbehind-australias-140b-critical-infrastructure-spend/?sh=61893c0c84da7

Digital twins for supercharged decision making

Digital twins forenhanced security
Digital twin technology is being used to improve security – by better modelling the impact ofcyber security attacks, mitigating risks to physical infrastructure and assets and supporting
defence decision making.
With cyber security threats on the rise, there needs to be new
ways to mitigate the risk to physical infrastructure. Ultimately,a cross-border, multi-stakeholder and cross-domain approachis critical to tackle future cyber threats to cities, governments
and citizens.
“Cyber hubs – like those introduced by the Australianfederal government in preparation for the centralisationof its networks – aim to understand cyber threat impacts
by digitising critical infrastructure and constructing models
around it,” says Le Busque.
“The government has been piloting cyber hubs to informa future whole-of-government operating model – and now,by leveraging digital twins, these models can help further
strengthen network defences with greater insights anda more informed and enhanced decision-making process
around cyber-attacks.”

While digital twin technology is a security enabler, theincreased number of connected devices in turn increases
the attack surface vector – meaning security at the pointof design is key.
“Naturally, by providing access to information that hasn’t
been connected before, we’re widening the attack surface,”says Le Busque. “Security and resilience – in the form ofsystems that help mitigate risk by monitoring the entire
network for malicious activity – are paramount considerations
for connected digital twins.”
Verizon’s expertise in securing and ensuring resilient
networks for enterprise and governments supports
secure digital twin development.

8Digital twins for supercharged decision making

Digital twins forsupercharged
decision making
Meshing 5G, IoT and data to create
blended worlds is supercharging decision
making for industry and government.
There are growing use cases and resulting
benefits of inter-connected digital twins,
enabled by secure 5G networks.
Real-time 5G modelling with digital twins and the linking ofdigital and physical worlds – both public and private – has
the potential to provide leaders with seamless information
for real-time decision making across natural disastermanagement, critical infrastructure and cybercrime
impact modelling.
As the gap between physical and digital worlds closes,
5G is generating more and more opportunities forimproved security, operational performance andenhanced decision making.
Digital twins and 5G-enabled innovation will continue
to help transform business operations globally.

9Digital twins for supercharged decision making

How 5G enables a moreconnected world
Unlocking the extremely high-bandwidth and low-latency connectivityof 5G is enabling more people, devices, sensors and data than ever tobe connected.
“Previous network generations, like 4G, sometimes have difficulty handling many devices in thesame location,” continues Le Busque. “5G solves this issue by intelligently transmitting to eachdevice, with high precision – which enables it to handle as many as 1 million devices per square
kilometre.”
5G will enable the spatial interplay of digital models with their real-world locations, so the physicalworld can be re-enacted digitally in almost real-time. IoT sensor devices will gradually become
embedded within digital twin ecosystems.

25%
increase in
number ofconnected
devices per year

“With the number of connected devices increasing at about 25% per year1, 5G enablement willbe critical – particularly for densely populated areas such as metropolitan cities,” says Le Busque.

1

https://www.ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/mobility-report/dataforecasts

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Digital twins for supercharged decision making

Public vs private 5G networks
Businesses are weighing up public andprivate 5G solutions – but the reality is thata combination of both will be required forcertain digital twins to work effectively.

A good example is Verizon’s work with Associated British
Ports in the UK, where a private 5G solution is beingimplemented to control the stevedore, supply chain andlogistics while in port. But when ships, trucks and containers
move from the private 5G location in port, they will rely on
public 5G networks for essential connectivity and data needs.

Private 5G will provide immediate results for enterprise andgovernment applications where security and operational
performance of networks are critical, with greater operational
flexibility and easier-to-manage throughput and latency.
The security requirements for many applications of digital twinsmeans they will likely rely primarily on private 5G solutions.

Similarly, in the US, Verizon works with first responders
to deploy 5G mobile towers and create a perimeter fora small private 5G environment, but still relies on the public
5G network to communicate externally about the statusof the incident.

However, while the current coverage of public 5G is limited
largely to metro areas, communication between digital
twins and the wider community will ultimately rely on public
5G networks.

Organisations could be considering how the power of 5G,
IoT and real-time data for smart, fast, accurate and longranging predictions can help them now, without waiting fora public 5G rollout.

A good example isVerizon’s work with
Associated British
Ports in the UK, wherea private 5G solution
is being implemented11

Digital twins for supercharged decision making

5 truths on your journey to private 5G
It’s not just about speed
Private 5G is inherently secureand its connectivity can alsoenable you to monitor, analyseand improve on every aspectof your business operations.

It’s not the sameas public 5G
With private 5G, every businesshas its own dedicated spectrum which reduces interference andassures greater privacy and security
for your operations.

It’s not the sameas Wi-Fi6
Its mobile signal covers thewhole of your premises evenly,indoors and outdoors.

It’s not only forinnovations
While private 5G can enable
revolutionary changes, it can also
just be used to improve the connectivityof your existing business operations.

It doesn’t have to replace
your existing infrastructure
There’s no need to rip and replace
everything, you can add 5G-readydevices to existing infrastructure.

The ultimate truth about private 5G

Private 5G is a reliable and responsive network that can help your enterprise keep pace with the evolving challenges of today’s business, making
your operations more competitive, efficient and profitable. To find out more about how private 5G can make your business more agile, visit
https://www.verizon.com/business/en-au/solutions/5g/

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