If you want to build a physical structure, be it a mine, a bridge, or a factory, the first thing you invariably need to do is create a blueprint.

You can’t just show up at the construction site and start building, or you risk wasting a lot of time and money on a project that returns nothing more than a structurally unsound pile of raw materials.

The same is true when building a digital twin. But here’s where data scientists have one major advantage over their counterparts in the physical world: rather than designing something from scratch, they need only create a map from physical reality to the digital space.

Of course, that’s easier said than done. And the question of how much of the physical world to translate into the digital is where things start to get tricky.

In the latest Value Boost episode of Value Driven Data Science, Dr Greg Biegel, author of Digital Twins in Action, joins me to share a practical framework for mapping a physical system to its digital representation - one of the first and most critical steps in building a digital twin.

In just 9 minutes, you’ll discover:

1. The three things to write down before you build anything [01:45]
2. How to decide which parts of a physical system to model and which to ignore [03:27]
3. The four types of models that make up a digital twin [04:00]
4. How to work backwards from a decision to the data and models you actually need [05:25]

Building a digital twin without a clear objective is like showing up at a construction site without a blueprint. This episode will make sure you have one.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or click the link below:

​Episode 130: The Digital Twin Blueprint​

And if you're interested in purchasing Digital Twins in Action, Greg and Manning Publications have kindly provided a discount code for our listeners.

Use the code BIEGEL40 until December 14th 2026 for a 40% discount HERE.

Talk again soon,

Dr Genevieve Hayes