What a Digital Twin Actually Is (and What It Is Not)

A digital twin is a living virtual representation of a physical asset, kept in sync with real-world data so it reflects the current state rather than a design snapshot.

A static CAD model is not a twin, and neither is a dashboard. The defining feature is the continuous feedback loop between sensor data and the model, which lets you ask “what if” against reality.

Used well, a twin turns scattered telemetry into a single trustworthy view that engineering and operations can plan against together.