| |APRIL 20238CIOReviewIN MY OPINIONUSING DIGITAL SIMULATION TO INFORM SUSTAINABLE GROWTH By Shaun Nesbitt, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Urban Utilities Setting the scene When faced with a big decision for your business, how often have you thought, `if only I had a crystal ball'? Well, let's discuss what could be the next best thing ­ a digital twin. A digital twin is an online model of a real-world asset or system, which can be used to simulate scenarios and predict how assets may respond. While they're not new, digital twins are becoming more sophisticated, which means they can better support planning and operational decisions that stack up against environmental, social, and corporate governance objectives. So, what's changed? Two things: we have access to more data and lots of it, and we have the computer power to, in real-time, adjust the parameters of a digital twin to simulate far more complex scenarios. Like many cities around the world, our population is growing in South East Queensland (SEQ). That's one of the big reasons essential service providers like Urban Utilities can benefit from using digital twins ­ to support sustainable growth, help us respond to natural disasters, and help make better planning decisions to lower the cost of managing our assets. We deliver water and wastewater services to around 1.6 million people at Urban Utilities. The work we do plays an essential role in supporting liveability in our communities and protecting much-loved natural assets, including the beautiful Moreton Bay. As our region grows, so does the demand for our essential services. Service providers like us must sustainably keep up with demand to support liveable communities to support liveable communities. Real world application ­ why is a digital twin useful at all? It sounds like a strange question, but in reality, most digital twins that are in use have very few parameters and, in isolation, only provide a minor uplift across the broader ecosystem they operate in. But hope is not lost! To understand and realise the value of the digital twin, I believe the conversation needs to be lifted above the individual model to the broader system. In the context of our operations, further benefits will be realised if we can start joining digital twins that exist both across service providers in SEQ but also by sharing with our partners to enable decision-making at a regional scale better and tackle the shared goal of supporting sustainable population Shaun Nesbitt
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