White Paper
Edge Computing: New Support for Digital Twins
Digital twins are one of the most exciting technology developments to emerge over the past few years. By creating a virtual model of a physical product, then simulating its real-time operation, companies are optimizing maintenance, predicting critical maintenance events and fueling innovation via actual performance feedback. Because simulation requires computational resources and the associated data outputs are large, cloud computing ― with its scalability and relatively low cost ― has traditionally been the technology environment of choice for supporting digital twins. But today, edge computing has emerged as a promising alternative. Edge computing leverages local resources that are close to the physical product’s location, which means reduced latency, while improving responsiveness, agility and privacy. For companies that are interested in creating digital twins, but have not taken the leap yet, the advantages of edge computing might convince them to explore this advanced practice ― and begin capturing valuable insights about their operations.