The launch in late 2024 of a £37.6m UK Digital Twin Centre in Belfast, supported by government funding, is intended to add momentum to efforts to make the country a hub for the development of the technology.
Government-backed Innovate UK and Belfast Region City Deal, announcing the investment in early May, said the centre had attracted co-investment from industry partners Thales UK, Spirit AeroSystems and Artemis Technologies – whose interest underscores the important role digital twin technology plays in the aerospace industry.
The UK Digital Twin Centre aims to accelerate industry adoption of digital twins by providing access to the latest technologies, cutting the cost of producing a digital twin and developing relevant skills in the workforce. It is also intended to provide a collaborative space for industry, academia and the public sector to nurture cross-sector innovation.
The centre, which is due to open in Belfast city centre in late 2024, will be led by Digital Catapult, a UK innovation agency for advanced digital technology, The Belfast centre adds to Digital Catapult’s network of existing regional centres to promote digital technology development.
Deborah Colville, UK Digital Twin Centre Director at Digital Catapult, described the announcement as a pivotal moment in realising the real-world value of digital twins for the UK.
“The centre will give businesses across the UK access to the expertise, technology and resources necessary to accelerate the adoption of digital twins to reduce design and manufacturing costs, help meet net zero targets and drive competitive advantage globally,” she said.
The centre has committed to generating £61m for the local economy in Northern Ireland and creating 230 new jobs in the manufacturing sector across the UK by 2033.
It will run a series of programmes for all industry levels, from SMEs to large enterprises, to drive innovation and create value. The development of an initial six use cases to demonstrate the potential of digital twins in transforming the maritime, aerospace and defence sectors are planned via the centre and its associated programmes.
UK AI drive
Digital Catapult has also been supporting other areas of technological development related to artificial intelligence (AI). In May, for example, it announced that seven UK companies would join its High Growth AI Accelerator for transport, to drive adoption of AI and machine learning.
It has also been active in the energy industry. In March, Digital Catapult said it was supporting the country’s hydrogen industry, backing Heuris Energy in its efforts to surmount the financial and operational challenges facing hydrogen adoption. By standardising data, and modelling the supply chain, Heuris is seeking to develop a new solution for streamlining the fragmented hydrogen supply chain for customers.
Digital Catapult is part of a wider Catapult network of UK organisations intended to drive AI, digital twin and other digital technology. In 2023, digital twin expert Mark Enzer explained to Future Oil and Gas how the Connected Places Catapult was taking forward the Climate Resilience demonstrator, CReDO, which he helped to develop, describing it as “a really good example that shows the value of information flows across sector boundaries – in this case, water, energy and telecoms”.
(Photo: Belfast/Shutterstock)
