V2.2 includes new definition for digital twin; virtual entity replaced by digital representation

The Industrial Internet Consortium® (IIC™), the world's leading organization transforming business and society by accelerating the adoption of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), announced V2.2 of the Industrial Internet Vocabulary Technical Report, one of six IIC technical reports that serve as defacto IIoT industry guidelines on vocabulary, architectures, security, analytics, connectivity and business strategy. The report helps reduce confusion in the marketplace by providing a common set of definitions for IIoT terms for anyone working in IIoT across a wide range of industries. Different from a dictionary, IIC vocabulary definitions can be replaced for their defining term to ensure clarity for all readers.

The new report includes a new definition for digital twin and eliminates virtual entity in favor of digital representation. Other terms added to the report include physical entity and physical entity of interest, describing a physical object such as factory equipment that could be monitored or that is already being monitored by an IoT system. IoT sensor and IoT actuator were also added - both IoT devices but with dissimilar definitions.

"We update the Vocabulary Technical Report annually with new terms that align with key IIoT trends," said Bob Martin, Co-Chair of the IIC Vocabulary Task Group, IIC Steering Committee Member, and Senior Principal Engineer at The MITRE Corporation. "This year the report focuses on digital twins - software replicas of physical devices that run simulations of systems and leverage IoT, AI and analytics technologies."

"Vocabulary terms can be quite concise, accurate and sometimes terse," said Erin Bournival, Co-Chair of the IIC Vocabulary Task Group and Distinguished Engineer, Office of the Corporate CTO at Dell EMC. "However, a definition can be expanded to give the big picture for a broader understanding of the vocabulary term.

"For example, the definition of digital twin is a digital representation sufficient to meet the requirements of a set of use cases. That definition can be expanded by adding the definition of digital representation and so on," continued Bournival. "While it may sound complicated, an agreed upon vocabulary helps authors create definitions and documentation that answers stakeholders' questions."

The IIC will continue to revise the IIC IIoT Vocabulary Technical Report with definitions for new IIoT terms. IIC IIoT Vocabulary Technical Report and a list of IIC members who contributed can be found on the IIC website https://www.iiconsortium.org/vocab/index.htm.

About the Industrial Internet Consortium
The Industrial Internet Consortium is the world's leading membership program transforming business and society by accelerating the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The IIC delivers a trustworthy IIoT in which the world's systems and devices are securely connected and controlled to deliver transformational outcomes. The Industrial Internet Consortium is a program of the Object Management Group (OMG). For more information, visit http://www.iiconsortium.org.

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