Training on Digital Twins: The Digital Twin Strategy and Transformation and Implementation

Course structure

Each course is planned over 4 weeks with 6 hours of active learning using best-practice examples (remote lectures delivered in real time and recorded for catch-up) and a strategic discussion forum with the cohort. Lecture sessions run once a week.

By participating in the sessions and successfully completing the course, you will receive a Cranfield University Certificate of Attendance and a digital badge.

These two courses run in succession.

What you will learn

Digital Twin Strategy and Transformation

• An introduction to digital twin with relevant use cases.
• Optimising value and impact by choosing the right digital twin applications.
• Driving efficiency and productivity through digital twin integration and ecosystem alignment.
• Building a digital twin strategy and action plan to deliver long-term value.

Digital Twin Implementation

• Developing a common framework for designing and building digital twins.
• Building interoperability and an approach to data management.
• AI and analytics in the world of digital twinning.
• Building a digital twin development plan with automated feedback and continuous value growth.

About the Digital Twin Hub

The Digital Twin Hub is an internationally recognised organisation and knowledge-sharing community. It is hosted on behalf of the UK Catapult Network at Connected Places Catapult where it drives the conversation on digital twins across industry, academia and the public sector.

This course is delivered as part of the Digital Twin Hub's Gemini skills training programme.

Associated learning

Digital and Technology Solutions MSc at Cranfield University.

Data and Digital Twins Six online learning modules from DT Hub/Open Data Institute.

Customised programmes available, please enquire.

Timetable

1. Digital Twin Strategy and Transformation

Digital twins, from concept to implementation

By the end of this course, you will have a clear understanding of digital twins, their ecosystem, and how to strategically implement them to drive value in your organisation. You will gain the knowledge to assess and select high-impact use cases, align digital twins with broader operational goals and develop a practical action plan to deliver long-term value through digital twin adoption.

Session themes by week

Week 1 – An Introduction to Digital Twins with Use Cases

This week provides a foundational introduction to digital twins, including key concepts, evolution, and real-world applications. Through industry-specific case studies, you will explore how digital twins deliver value across different sectors and functions. This session sets the stage for recognising where and how digital twins can be applied for maximum impact.

Key topics:

• What is a digital twin? Historical context and current relevance.
• Components, types and levels of complexity.
• Use case examples and their outcomes.
• Understanding value creation through digital twin implementation.

Week 2 – Optimising Value and Impact by Choosing the Right Digital Twin Applications

Learn how to identify and prioritise digital twin applications that offer the greatest strategic and operational benefits. This week explores methods for evaluating use cases based on impact, feasibility and alignment with business needs. You will also discover tools to help assess organisational readiness and define success criteria.

Key topics:

• Evaluating digital twin use cases for business impact.
• Feasibility, scalability and time-to-value assessment.
• Use case selection frameworks and decision matrices.
• Aligning applications with business goals and digital maturity.

Week 3 – Driving Efficiency and Productivity through Digital Twin Integration and Ecosystem Alignment

This week focuses on how to integrate digital twins into existing operations and align them with your broader digital ecosystem. You will explore the technologies, stakeholders and change management considerations required to ensure effective implementation. Emphasis will be placed on creating synergy across systems to enhance productivity and efficiency.

Key topics:

• Ecosystem components: IT, OT, data and platform integration Stakeholder alignment and change management Operational integration for real-time performance and insights Overcoming common adoption barriers

Week 4 – Building a Digital Twin Strategy and Action Plan to Deliver Long-Term Value

In the final week, you will learn how to design a strategic and actionable plan for deploying digital twins within your organisation. You’ll define goals, roadmap key milestones and identify governance practices to ensure scalability and long-term impact. This session empowers you to take digital twins from vision to execution.

Key topics:

• Developing a strategic vision and use case roadmap.
• Governance, roles, and resource planning.
• KPIs and value realisation frameworks.
• Finalising your digital twin action plan.
  
  

2. Digital Twin Implementation

Advanced Digital Twin Development Techniques and Applications

By the end of this course, you will have a strong technical foundation in digital twin development. You will be equipped to design, build, and optimise digital twins with a focus on developing a unified framework, ensuring interoperability, leveraging AI and analytics and establishing automated feedback loops to drive continuous value. This will enable you to create robust, scalable and intelligent digital twin solutions for real-world challenges.

Week 1 – Developing a Common Framework for Designing and Building Digital Twins

This week introduces the foundational principles for creating a unified approach to digital twin development. You will explore frameworks that support standardised design and development practices, enabling consistency across different domains and applications. Also, you will explore real-world use cases and understand how digital twins enable real-time monitoring, simulation and decision-making. The week concludes with an in-depth look at the core building blocks that support scalable and maintainable digital twins.

Key topics:

• Principles of a unified digital twin development framework.
• Standard components and reference architectures.
• Industry-specific vs cross-domain design considerations.

Week 2 – Building Interoperability and an Approach to Data Management

Learn how to achieve seamless integration and communication across systems by enabling interoperability in digital twin ecosystems. This week covers data management strategies, standards and tools to ensure consistent and reliable data flow. You'll also explore ontologies, protocols and best practices to support data harmonisation and system connectivity.

Key topics:

• · Interoperability frameworks and communication standards.
• · Data governance and lifecycle management.
• · Ontologies for semantic data modelling and integration.
• · Approaches for synchronising physical and digital entities.

Week 3 – AI and Analytics in the World of Digital Twinning

Explore how artificial intelligence and advanced analytics power intelligent decision-making in digital twins. This week focuses on using machine learning, predictive analytics and real-time data processing to optimise operations and support strategic decisions. Case studies will demonstrate how AI transforms digital twins into proactive and adaptive systems.

Key topics:

• Role of AI and ML in digital twin intelligence.
• Predictive, prescriptive, and real-time analytics.
• Data pipelines for training and deploying ML models.
• Use cases across industries.

Week 4 – Building a Digital Twin Development Plan with Automated Feedback and Continuous Value Growth

In the final week, you will design a comprehensive development plan for a digital twin system that incorporates automated feedback loops and continuous improvement. Learn how to embed mechanisms for value measurement, iterative development and adaptability into your solution. The week concludes with a project where you apply all course concepts to create a strategic digital twin roadmap.

Key topics:

• Structuring a digital twin development and deployment plan.
• Feedback mechanisms for adaptive learning and optimisation.
• KPIs and metrics for value realisation and growth.
• Project: Designing a continuous-value digital twin system.
  

Who should attend

This training is for those engaged in industry roles that will influence decision-making to realise benefits from digital twins. They will be the enablers and subsequent end-users of digital twin systems or the translators of digital twin capabilities, rather than those creating digital twins.

The courses are designed for those working in asset owner and operator organisations, suppliers and consultants, and suit company or sector-specific cohorts and/or individuals.

Typically, participants will have roles across a variety of management areas: asset; operations; product; performance; planning; continuous improvement; engineering; maintenance; service; customer; HR and skills development; cost and commercial.

Partnerships