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Understanding the Dynamics of Digital Twin Technology

Olivia Carter — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 15:25:44 +0000

Digital twins are among the most sought-after business tools in the world today. One Internet-of-Things (IoT) analytics report shows that between 2020 and 2022, the digital twin technology market grew by 71%. The versatility that this technology offers, makes it attractive for varying businesses across industries. Digital twins are computer programs that utilize real-world data to develop simulations based on historical data and current conditions.

These programs can integrate with artificial intelligence, IoT, and software analytics to improve outputs. IoT sensors facilitate the transfer of real-world data needed to create virtual twins. Using the simulations, businesses can predict how a process or product will perform. But, virtual twins aren’t just about simulation. They span the entire product or process lifecycle and have service, engineering, and manufacturing use cases.

In this article, we delve deeper into the types of digital twin technology and its use cases.

What is Digital Twin Technology?

Digital twin refers to the technology that supports the creation of virtual representations of physical systems, processes, or objects. This digital twin is supported by various state-of-the-art technologies including artificial intelligence, IoT, big data, machine learning, IoT, and visualization technologies like augmented and virtual reality. Essentially, digital twins have three main components:

A virtual definition of their counterparts
Operational data of their components
Information model that gathers and presents data to inform decisions

Types of Digital Twin Technology

There are four types of digital twins namely:

1. Component Twins

Also referred to as part twins, component twins are the lowest levels of virtual twins. It corresponds with the tiniest elements within a specific part of a product or equipment like a switch or an IoT sensor. Component twins facilitate performance monitoring and allow for the simulation of real-world conditions for purposes of testing their efficiency, stability, or endurance.

2. Product/Asset Twins

Product twins feature several component twins or utilize the information that component twins generate to create complex assets like smart buildings, pumps, or engines. These twins analyze how well separate parts of a system perform and interact as part of the entire process or solution. Engineers use product twins to gather insights about equipment performance and identify potential flaws.

3. System Twins

These digital twins show how varying products combine to form functional units and duplicate product assets at the system level. They provide a large-scale view of plants or factories, allowing engineers to test varying systems for optimal effectiveness.

4. Process Twins

These constitute the highest level of virtual twins, connecting system twins into a single entity that supports synchronization and collaboration between systems. Process twins create solutions that offer a maximum view of workflows within manufacturing plants or factories for deeper and more versatile output analysis.

Key Industrial Use Cases of Digital Twin Technology

Virtual twinning has varying use cases. Below are the main use cases for this technology in businesses across industries:

1. Product Design

Digital twins allow companies to develop quality products, cities, processes, systems, or buildings. By simulating physical objects, product developers test varying designs, identify design flaws, and make adjustments to improve those flaws before commencing actual production.

2. Service Optimization

Companies can use digital twinning to identify service improvement opportunities and optimize the delivery of those services. Companies use virtual twinning to improve customer experience, optimize manufacturing processes, and improve operations.

3. Supply Chain Management

Industries can use digital twins to simulate and test scenarios that facilitate the identification of inefficiencies in supply chain management processes. This information enables them to optimize the flow of materials and products in supply chains. Digital twinning is also used to simulate supply chain disruptions like transportation problems or raw material delivery delays and their impact on the business. This allows suppliers to mitigate these issues before they occur.

4. Operations Management

In operations management, virtual twin technology facilitates real-time remote access and performance monitoring of systems, assets, and processes. This enables industries to test varying scenarios and find improvement opportunities. Digital twins also help companies identify and fix performance problems like energy consumption, uptime, and maintenance needs before they can result in production losses or downtime.

5. Entertainment

Another important digital twinning use is entertainment. Considering that mixed reality technologies are at the heart of virtual twins, the technology can be used to create immersive experiences for customers in the leisure industry.

One of the leading digital twin technology examples in the entertainment industry is the simulation of attractions and rides in amusement parks. This allows customers to experience the rides virtually even before they make actual visits to the parks. With this information, customers can plan their visits better and prioritize their preferred attractions for more satisfying experiences.

Final Thoughts

Digital twinning will continue to change the way industries build, design, and maintain systems and products. Its application will expand to new sectors beyond automobile, aerospace, health, and smart cities industries. Another trend we can expect in future is democratized access to the technology through the digital twin-as-a-service (DTaaS) model. Delivery of DTaaS via cloud-based solutions will make digital twin technology highly affordable and accessible to businesses of all sizes. Additionally, we’ll witness integration of virtual twinning technology with edge computing and the 5G network to support real-time analytics and facilitate flawless data transfer respectively.

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Next-Gen Finance with 7 Exciting FinTech Innovations in 2024

Olivia Carter — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 12:34:48 +0000

FinTech is at the forefront of modern technological developments. With the FinTech space being worth over $179 billion, startups and innovators are all finding the next big thing in finance and banking. This article goes over 7 of those FinTech innovations in 2024.

Some of these innovations build upon existing trends that we’re seeing in the finance industry while some are completely revolutionary. That being said, here’s the list:

#1. Open Banking

A modern consumer in 2023 likes full control over their finances and banking. This includes payments, checking their credit scores, applying for loans, etc. FinTech startups are working on unique solutions to enable innovative experiences for these consumers. This is only possible thanks to open banking.

Open banking is a FinTech practice where banks and finance institutes grant third-party providers access to consumer data. This data may or may not include the user’s account details, transaction history, spending habits, credit scores, etc. Using this data, third-party providers enable unique finance applications that offer unique solutions for users. Since open banking involves sharing user data, the users have to consent to it.

This growing FinTech innovation is helping the industry by supporting new companies while providing better services to consumers. As a result of this, the value of open banking transactions worldwide reached $57 billion in 2023. Furthermore, experts believe it will grow even more in the coming years.

#2. Blockchain Applications

Cryptocurrency and blockchain have become highly controversial things to talk about these days. Some people are pro-crypto and will give you examples of people who’ve become rich overnight thanks to crypto-trading. While others who don’t like it will explain the absurdity of these currencies.

Regardless of your opinion on cryptocurrency, blockchain has huge potential to improve FinTech as it’s doing already. The blockchain enables distributed ledger technology (DLT) that allows you to record and share data across multiple data stores. Furthermore, blockchain enables other recent FinTech innovations like digital wallets, digital assets, decentralized finance (DeFi), and non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Things like smart contracts, digital wallets, and the blockchain make cross-border payments have faster settlement times, access to newer markets, lower costs, increased security, and greater transparency compared to traditional payment methods.

#3. Voice-Enabled Payments

Voice assistants are becoming a part of daily lives. Regardless of the brand of your smartphone, there will be a smart assistant to help you navigate the phone and the web. Voice-enabled payments is a FinTech innovation that allows users to make payments using voice commands. This can be done through a variety of devices, such as smartphones, smart speakers, and even point-of-sale (POS) systems.

To make a voice-enabled payment, you need to have a linked payment method, such as a credit or debit card, or a mobile wallet. When you initiate a payment, the voice assistant will verify and authenticate it using your linked payment method.

Voice-enabled payments offer a number of benefits to both users and merchants. For users, voice-enabled payments are convenient and hands-free. They can be made without having to type or enter any information, which can be especially useful when users are multitasking or in situations where they cannot use their hands, such as when driving or cooking. Voice-enabled payments can also be more secure than traditional payment methods, such as credit cards, as they use biometric authentication to verify the user’s identity.

For merchants, voice-enabled payments can help to improve the customer experience and increase sales. They can also help to reduce fraud and improve operational efficiency.

#4. Virtual/Online Cards

Cashless payments have been the primary mode of transaction for consumers. It is by and large better, faster, and easier than handing over cash. Some primary modes of cashless payments include online payments, debit cards, and credit cards.

The use of virtual cards is an emerging FinTech innovation that is making it easier for consumers to apply for new cards and use them conveniently. Since online shopping has become common, users relying on it completely don’t need to use their physical cards at all. Which begs the question, what if new users don’t ever need a physical card?

Virtual cards bring more to the table than just the convenience of applying and using them. They’re great for protection against fraud by limiting the amount of information shared during a transaction. They also offer spending control features like setting amount limits and choosing specific vendors only. As online shopping becomes even more mainstream than it already is, virtual cards will become better.

#5. Robotic Process Automation

Automation is a major trend this decade in every industry. Businesses want to maximize efficiency and reduce labor costs using automation in every possible part of the process. Robotic Process Automation (RTA) uses AI, computers, or any machine to perform specific tasks. These tasks can range from copy and paste to filling or moving forms.

Now, this isn’t exactly a ground-breaking FinTech innovation. However, it solves mundane problems and improves general tasks. In FinTech, RPA promises to improve customer experience, increase productivity, and make the accounting process better.

Some other important applications of RPA are KYC and AML procedures where RPA automates manual tasks and helps with abnormal activity detection. It also supports banks with tedious processes like mortgage lending and loan underwriting.

Some people fear that RPA is a major threat to many jobs. That concern has its merits but the fact remains; If banks and finance institutions want to offer better customer services, they need RPA in some capacity.

#6. Machine-Learning and AI

Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are two of the most transformative technologies of our time, and they are having a major impact on the FinTech industry.

ML and AI are being used to develop new and innovative financial products and services, as well as to improve the efficiency and security of existing financial systems. Here are a few specific examples:

Fraud detection: It helps you analyze large amounts of data to identify patterns and anomalies that may indicate fraud. This can help banks and other financial institutions to detect and prevent fraud more effectively.
Credit scoring: It helps you develop more accurate and predictive credit scoring models. This can help lenders to make more informed lending decisions and reduce the risk of defaults.
Investment management: Access robo-advisors and other investment management tools that can help investors to make better investment decisions.
Risk management: Develop more sophisticated risk management models. This can help financial institutions to better manage their risk and protect their customers.

In addition to these specific examples, AI in banking is also being used to improve the customer experience in a variety of ways. For example, they can be used to develop chatbots that can answer customer questions and provide support 24/7. AI can also be used to personalize the customer experience by recommending products and services that are relevant to each individual customer.

#7. Mobile-Only Banks

Mobile-only banks are a type of fintech innovation that has revolutionized the way people bank. These banks operate exclusively through mobile apps, offering a convenient and affordable way to manage finances without having to visit a physical branch. They offer a wide range of banking services, including checking and savings accounts, debit cards, loans, and investment products. They also typically offer features that are not available at traditional banks, such as mobile check deposits, peer-to-peer payments, and budgeting tools.

One of the biggest advantages of mobile-only banks is their convenience. Customers can bank from anywhere, at any time, with just a few taps on their smartphone. This is especially appealing to younger generations who are increasingly using their smartphones for all aspects of their lives.

Another advantage of mobile-only banks is their affordability. Because they do not have the same overhead costs as traditional banks, mobile-only banks are able to offer lower fees and more competitive interest rates. This can save customers a significant amount of money over time.

Some of the most popular mobile-only banks in the USA that are nailing neo-banking are Moneylion and Upgrade.

Final Words

When it comes to FinTech innovations, these trends don’t just reflect the commercial space that affects businesses. They also dictate how consumers interact with finance and advancements in their banking experiences.

The post Next-Gen Finance with 7 Exciting FinTech Innovations in 2024 appeared first on Tech Research Online.

European Union (EU) Imposes Digital Markets Act (DMA) on 6 Tech Giants

Tech Research Online — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 13:56:55 +0000

The European Commission (EC) on Wednesday, designated six tech giants under its Digital Markets Act (DMA). This is one of its most diligent efforts to balance the market power in big tech. The EC is applying a new set of active and competitive rules on how these gatekeepers can operate designated core platform services. The six tech giants are Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft.

The European Union (EU) is known for promoting peace, stability, and prosperity for over half a century. The EU has ensured that businesses stay secure from the setbacks of globalization through their support and has created rules to make sure big companies pay their taxes fairly.

This new act will ensure that no unfair conditions are imposed on businesses or users by the gatekeepers which will open doors for competitive digital services and safer user experience.

Here is the complete list of platforms that the DMA will affect:

Social networks – TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
Six intermediation services – Google Maps, Google Play, Google Shopping, Amazon Marketplace, iOS App Store, and Meta Marketplace
Three ads delivery systems (ADS) – Google, Amazon, and Meta
Two browsers – Chrome and Safari
Three operating systems – Android, iOS, and Windows
Two messaging platforms – WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger
The Google search engine and the video-sharing platform YouTube

Platforms Missing from the Official Big Tech List

Tech giants such as Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, TikTok, Meta, Microsoft, and Samsung said that they already expected to be subject to the regime. However, Samsung is not on today’s official list. Core platform services like Google’s web-based email service, Gmail, and Microsoft’s rival webmail offering, Outlook are also omitted. There are no cloud storage platforms listed. It is fascinating to see no webmail services on the Digital Markets Act platform list.

Substantial Provisions of the DMA

The rules and provisions of DMA apply to the gatekeepers; But what exactly is the definition of gatekeepers? EC defines gatekeepers as online firms with a dominance in the market and economic impact that serve as intermediaries linking a huge user base to a large number of businesses and platforms, and function in multiple EU countries.

Key provisions of the Digital Markets Act include a ban on self-preferencing or gatekeepers requiring business users to make use of their services and a ban on gatekeeping app stores preventing the installation of competing stores. They cannot ban business users from offering and promoting competing services and they must share platform usage information.

There are also data portability and service interoperability provisions, including specific interoperability obligations for messaging giants and choice-screen-style obligations for operating systems, browsers, search engines, and virtual assistants.

Moreover, there’s a ban on gatekeepers tracking and profiling users for ad targeting unless they obtain their consent. The Digital Markets Act also bans restrictions on uninstalling gatekeeper preloads. Furthermore, the gatekeepers will need to meet a requirement to apply Fair, Reasonable, and Non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms for general access (and avoid discriminatory T&Cs) for fair dealing with business users.

Compliance failure or breaching the regime can lead to fines of up to 10% of global annual turnover or even 20% for severe repeat offenses. The Commission has further power to apply additional remedies like requiring a gatekeeper to sell a business or parts of it or stopping gatekeepers from acquiring additional services related to systemic non-compliance.

Thierry Breton, the EU’s Internal Market Commissioner’s Words

In his speech at a digital conference in Estonia, Breton outlined the bloc’s object for the regulation. “We know that some tech giants have used their market power to give their products and services an unfair advantage and hold back competitors from doing business and creating added value and jobs. These practices distort competition, undermine free consumer choice, and hold back SMEs’ innovation potential notably arising from Web 4.0 and virtual worlds,” he said.

Breton further said, “It was high time that Europe sets its rules of the game upfront, providing a clear enforceable legal framework to foster innovation, competitiveness and the resilience of the Single Market, rather than having to rely on lengthy and not always effective antitrust investigations. The DMA does just that.”

An Opportunity for Fair Competition

The new set of rules can pave the road for different opportunities for competition on major platforms such as independent app stores, alternative payment services, and upstart search engines. And, simultaneously breaking the aggressive behavior of gatekeepers such as arbitrary enforcement of T&Cs.

The new law can also encourage the development of less exploitative business models, as consumers should have more space to break the loop of platform giants’ lock-ins. Breaking the pattern of their powerful network and opting for other competing businesses can still take some time as consumers trust the big enterprises.

There is still time to comply with the Digital Markets Act deadlines come into the picture. These tech giants have six months to ensure they meet all the legal requirements and submit a compliance report in which they summarize their compliance with each of the obligations of the DMA. So March 2024 will be the time when we can see the true effect of DMA and its influence on the competition and the big tech.

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10 New Ways to Communicate in The Age Of Digital Technology

Mary Landers — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 15:29:40 +0000

Introduction

In the modern era, digital technologies affected both our verbal and non-verbal communication. Furthermore, it provided people with new ways to communicate, which made it easier not only to express thoughts and ideas but find a compromise in difficult times. Which new ways to communicate have you already tried?

Effective communication is essential for building relationships. These days, there is a variety of ways that people use to stay in touch with friends and family from all over the world. Each of them affects our relationship in a specific way.

How Has The Technology Changed The Way We Communicate?

Digital technology has fundamentally changed the way people communicate with one another compared to previous generations. Indeed, the changes have been so profound that traditional ways to communicate, including letters, telegraphs, and even telephone calls, are becoming less and less common in everyday life.

Thanks to technological advancements, people now have more control over how they communicate than ever before.

10 New Ways Of Communication People Use In The Modern Era

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/196539971211765382/

People’s ability to communicate with others has greatly improved as a result of technological advancements. For personal and professional communication, they have plenty of options.

The most crucial aspect of all of these options is that a person can choose what works best for him rather than being forced to use the same method each time he needs it. Here are ten modern communication tools allowing people to stay in touch both in business and everyday life:

1. Live Web Chat

You have probably already seen a lot of these on websites. They can be extremely useful if properly managed. Users on a website can use interactive web chats to ask questions in real-time without leaving the site.

2. Social Media

Since the early days of the Internet, social networks have dominated most of our lives and continue to do that. The number of social networks is constantly growing. Each one attracts millions of users every day.

As a result, social media has become one of the most popular ways for people to communicate with one another, post open messages for all to see, and interact with other users through comments. People have also been taught how to use images on Instagram to express themselves and their businesses. check out our blog on how we can utilize big data for social media marketing.

3. Emailing

It is one of the most popular ways of communication, used for both private and marketing messaging. Despite being one of the most underappreciated platforms, it is one of the most effective tools for businesses to make money, promote their services and products, spread news, and build brand awareness.

To achieve the desired result, it is crucial to create a message that will entice a potential customer to respond by purchasing a product or service. You can get a perfect piece of writing by visiting a custom writing reviews service of Writing Judge, which provides a list of the best writing sites.

Emailing allows businesses to form a base of clients that can be reconnected overtime for sales of services or products.

4. Voice Messaging

Voice messaging has become one of the most popular ways of communication. It enables the possibility of responding to someone when your hands are busy, connecting with someone at the meeting, giving instructions to teammates, etc. What is great about this way of communication is that a voice message can be listened to at any convenient time and multiple times.

A voice message can be delivered in a variety of ways. One of them is to record a voice message with the Voice Recorder app, save it to Audio Messages on your device, and then share it via the app’s menu. Some platforms already include recorders. As a result, users can share voice messages without having to launch any applications.

5. Direct Messaging on Social Media

You can leave public messages on social networks and message a specific person directly while keeping your content private from others. Some networks (for example, Facebook Messenger) even have their own messaging apps. Direct messaging using social media is similar to email, but it is less formal.

6. Text messaging (SMS)

Text messages are distinguished by the following characteristics:

The brevity of content;
Informality;
Ability to transmit a small amount of data.

A person does not need to have Internet access to send an SMS. He can text anyone in the world if he has enough money in his account. Furthermore, older generations prefer SMS texting to other ways of communication because they do not want (or do not have the opportunity or proper facilities due to location) to learn new technologies.

7. Blogging

This method of communication is useful when you need to convey specific knowledge or information to a large group of people in a short period. A blog is a type of website that allows anyone to publish news, messages, knowledge, or any other type of information on the World Wide Web so that everyone can see it.

8. Video Chatting

Many businesses began to use video chatting to arrange personal and group meetings amid the global pandemic. It is not as common as voice messaging.

During the video chat, both speakers can see each other and read body language and facial expressions. It is typically used by people who prefer to see the person they are conversing with rather than sending text or voice messages.

9. Communication Via Videos

This way of communicating is very popular among educational platforms that teach students from all over the world. Human communication is influenced by a variety of factors, including:

Time difference;
Health issues;
Location;
Lockdown, etc.

As a result, using videos is a great way to deliver specific knowledge or data to a specific person or group of people in a timely manner. It is simple to share with other platforms. Udemy, Instagram, and YouTube are great examples of how videos can be used to reach a large audience.

10. The Use of Instant Messengers

Many businesses rely on instant messaging because it allows employees to communicate with one another while still sitting at their workplaces. It enables users to “chat” about work and personal issues, which improves collaboration, and productivity and provides a friendly atmosphere in an office.

Popular messaging networks (and clients) include:

AIM;
Gem4me;
ICQ;
IRC;
Jitsi;
MSN;
MyChat;
ooVoo;
Skype;
XMPP;
Yahoo!

This way of communication is often used by remote employees. Each of these networks is created by a separate development team and has its own set of rules and features.

Due to the fast growth of digital technologies, one can hardly predict what will come next in the future.

Author Bio:

Mary Landers is a freelance writer with a broad outlook. She currently works as an Editor at Online Writers Rating reviewing a variety of writing services websites. She is also actively involved in writing articles for the Best Writers Online review website. The main topics of her materials are business, marketing, and education.

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