Conceptualising the digital twin: An analysis of 358 definitions

The digital twin (DT) concept has gained momentum in the scientific community and industry. However, critics claim that the tremendous traction of DT and its deployment in several industries has the tendency to blur the original meaning of the concept. Consequently, this study compiled 358 DT definitions and iteratively developed a coding framework with 26 dimensions to analyse the current understanding of the concept among scholars and practitioners. The results indicate that there is a bifurcation of consensus among scholars and practitioners regarding the understanding of the DT concept. The analysis revealed that 66.48% of the sample definitions accurately conceptualised the DT and captured all its necessary elements, whereas the remaining 33.52% of the sample definitions described a digital model rather than a digital twin. The results further revealed 15 services and 10 enabling technologies of the DT concept, represented in the 358 definitions. The study offered a unified visual definition of a DT, which captures, in detail, the necessary elements of a DT. Thus, the study offers some transparency and clarity regarding the current understanding of the DT concept, which could contribute to the coherence and a shared understanding of the concept.