As someone deeply involved in the intersection of Digital Twins and blockchain technology, I’m often asked: “Why use Ethereum for Digital Twins?” The answer is simple—Ethereum’s capabilities, particularly its smart contracts, decentralization, and security features, align perfectly with the evolving needs of managing complex Digital Twins. Whether applied to smart cities, industrial facilities, or infrastructure projects, integrating Ethereum with Digital Twins unlocks new possibilities for secure collaboration, efficient automation, and data integrity.
Here’s why I choose Ethereum for enhancing Digital Twins:
1. Robust Smart Contracts for Automation
One of the most powerful features of Ethereum is its ability to execute smart contracts—self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement written directly into code. When applied to Digital Twins, smart contracts automate critical processes such as access control, maintenance scheduling, and data sharing. This reduces the need for manual oversight, streamlines operations, and ensures that predefined conditions are met before actions are triggered.
For example, in a Digital Twin of a manufacturing plant, Ethereum-based smart contracts can automatically trigger a maintenance task if sensor data shows that a machine is nearing its operational limits. This ensures timely interventions, reducing the risk of equipment failure while optimizing resource use.
2. Decentralized Data Security and Transparency
When dealing with complex Digital Twins, particularly those involving multiple stakeholders or distributed systems, ensuring data security and transparency is critical. Ethereum’s decentralized architecture eliminates the need for a central authority to manage access to data, ensuring that all participants have equal access to the Digital Twin’s latest information.
By integrating Ethereum, every interaction with the Digital Twin is recorded on the blockchain. This provides a tamper-proof, immutable record of changes, making it impossible to alter or erase historical data. For industries like construction, infrastructure, or energy, this level of data security is invaluable—ensuring that critical asset data remains safe, transparent, and trusted by all stakeholders.
3. Efficient Collaboration Across Multiple Stakeholders
Digital Twins often require collaboration between multiple parties, such as contractors, suppliers, engineers, and government agencies. Ethereum’s decentralized nature and ability to manage access through smart contracts ensure that each participant can securely access and contribute to the Digital Twin based on their role and permissions.
With Ethereum, role-based access control can be programmed directly into the blockchain. For example, a smart contract can ensure that only authorized engineers have the ability to modify certain aspects of the Digital Twin, while external contractors may have viewing rights only. This level of control enhances security while promoting seamless, trusted collaboration.
In a smart city project, for instance, Ethereum can ensure that city planners, engineers, and public services each access and update the relevant portions of the city’s Digital Twin while maintaining strict control over sensitive information such as energy grid data or transportation systems.
4. Cost-Effective and Scalable Solutions
One of the key advantages of using Ethereum with Digital Twins is the cost-efficiency it offers through decentralized management. Traditional centralized systems often require significant investment in infrastructure, maintenance, and security protocols. By leveraging Ethereum’s distributed ledger technology, organizations can reduce the costs associated with data management and collaboration.
Ethereum’s scalability ensures that even as the complexity of the Digital Twin grows—whether through the addition of more sensors, assets, or data points—the blockchain can handle the increased load without compromising performance. This makes Ethereum an ideal solution for large-scale projects like smart cities, industrial plants, or multi-site operations where data from thousands of devices need to be securely managed and analyzed in real time.
5. Future-Proofing Digital Twin Management
As organizations increasingly adopt Digital Twins, they need a solution that can evolve with them. Ethereum’s continuous development and support for decentralized applications (dApps) make it a future-proof platform for managing Digital Twins. With Ethereum 2.0’s transition to Proof of Stake (PoS), the platform is becoming even more energy-efficient and scalable, further enhancing its appeal for long-term Digital Twin projects.
Additionally, Ethereum’s open-source nature allows for the customization and integration of new tools as needed, ensuring that your Digital Twin management evolves alongside technological advancements.
Conclusion
For me, Ethereum is the go-to blockchain platform for managing Digital Twins because of its powerful combination of smart contracts, decentralization, and security. By integrating Ethereum with Digital Twins, I’ve been able to deliver more secure, efficient, and collaborative solutions across various industries.
In an era where data integrity, collaboration, and automation are key to operational success, Ethereum’s blockchain offers the tools necessary to maximize the potential of Digital Twins. Whether you’re managing a smart city, an industrial facility, or a large infrastructure project, Ethereum’s blockchain technology can help you unlock new possibilities for innovation, efficiency, and trust.
As Digital Twins emerge as one of the most transformative technologies for simulating, monitoring, and optimizing physical assets, the complexity of managing these digital representations continues to grow. Whether applied in manufacturing, urban planning, or large-scale infrastructure projects, Digital Twins rely on real-time data and collaboration between multiple parties. However, with the increasing number of stakeholders, the risk of version conflicts, data silos, and security breaches becomes more prevalent.
Enter blockchain technology, a solution that offers a secure, decentralized, and transparent way to manage collaboration and version control within Digital Twin environments. By utilizing blockchain, organizations can ensure that all collaborators work from the most up-to-date, accurate data and that access is controlled securely. This combination of Digital Twins and blockchain can dramatically improve efficiency, trust, and accountability across teams.
The Challenges of Managing Digital Twins
Digital Twins—virtual replicas of physical assets—serve as dynamic models that evolve in real-time based on data collected from sensors, IoT devices, and other data sources. These models are invaluable for decision-making, predictive maintenance, and optimization. However, as more stakeholders interact with the Digital Twin (such as contractors, engineers, and regulators), several key challenges arise:
Version Control: As multiple parties work on the Digital Twin, different versions of the model may emerge, leading to confusion and potential errors.- Data Security: Digital Twins often contain sensitive information about physical assets, and ensuring that only authorized users can access or modify this data is critical.- Collaboration: Ensuring that all stakeholders have real-time access to the correct and latest data, without creating bottlenecks or risks of miscommunication, is challenging, particularly in complex projects.
How Blockchain Enhances Collaboration and Version Control in Digital Twins
Blockchain technology offers a secure, transparent, and decentralized solution to these challenges, allowing multiple stakeholders to collaborate seamlessly on Digital Twins while maintaining strict version control and data security. Here’s how blockchain can transform the way organizations manage Digital Twins:
1. Shared, Transparent LedgerBlockchain provides a shared, immutable ledger that records all changes made to the Digital Twin in real-time. This ensures that every stakeholder works with the same, most up-to-date version of the Digital Twin. Since all modifications are recorded on the blockchain, there is no risk of conflicting versions or data discrepancies.
Example: In a large construction project, engineers, architects, and contractors can collaborate on a Digital Twin of the building. Blockchain ensures that all parties have access to the most recent updates, such as design changes or material specifications, eliminating the risk of version conflicts.
2. Version Control and Immutable Audit TrailsBlockchain’s immutability ensures that every change to the Digital Twin is permanently recorded, creating a clear audit trail of who made what changes and when. This eliminates confusion over version control and ensures accountability among all collaborators.
Example: In a manufacturing plant, multiple teams work on different aspects of the production process, each interacting with the Digital Twin. Blockchain tracks every modification to the production model, preventing version conflicts and ensuring that any updates to the process are transparent and verifiable.
3. Role-Based Access Control with Smart ContractsWith blockchain, organizations can implement secure, role-based access control using smart contracts. These self-executing contracts define the permissions for each user, ensuring that only authorized individuals can access or modify specific parts of the Digital Twin. This enhances data security while allowing for decentralized collaboration.
Example: In a smart city project, the Digital Twin of the city’s infrastructure might include sensitive data on power grids and transportation systems. Using blockchain, city planners can ensure that only authorized personnel, such as engineers or city officials, can access or update specific data related to their area of responsibility, while restricting access to other parties.
4. Fostering Trust and EfficiencyBlockchain’s transparent and decentralized nature fosters trust among stakeholders by ensuring that all data is accurate, consistent, and tamper-proof. This eliminates the need for manual verification or reconciliation of data, improving overall efficiency. Stakeholders can be confident that the data they are working with is reliable, allowing them to focus on their core tasks rather than worrying about data accuracy.
Example: In an oil and gas project using a Digital Twin to monitor pipeline infrastructure, blockchain ensures that all participants, from equipment manufacturers to maintenance teams, work from the same reliable dataset. This leads to faster decision-making, reduced downtime, and improved operational efficiency.
Real-World Applications of Blockchain-Enabled Digital Twins
1. Smart Cities and Urban PlanningIn smart cities, where digital representations of infrastructure (such as transportation networks, utilities, and buildings) are essential for planning and maintenance, blockchain can ensure that all city departments and external contractors work from the same Digital Twin data. This prevents miscommunication, enhances transparency, and ensures that the city’s infrastructure is managed effectively.
Example: A city’s Digital Twin includes real-time data on traffic flow, water usage, and energy consumption. Blockchain ensures that each department has access to the latest data while maintaining strict access control to sensitive information, such as the city’s energy grid. This enhances inter-departmental collaboration and ensures that city planners and engineers can work efficiently.
2. Manufacturing and Supply ChainIn manufacturing, blockchain-enabled Digital Twins can be used to monitor the entire lifecycle of products, from design and production to delivery and maintenance. Blockchain’s version control capabilities ensure that all teams—whether they are on the factory floor or in the design office—are working from the same, real-time model of the product, improving quality and reducing costs.
Example: A car manufacturer uses a Digital Twin to simulate the production of a new model. The blockchain ensures that all teams involved in the production process—such as designers, engineers, and suppliers—are using the same version of the Digital Twin. This prevents errors caused by outdated design specifications and streamlines the entire production process.
3. Large Infrastructure ProjectsIn large infrastructure projects, such as the construction of bridges, airports, or highways, blockchain can be used to manage the Digital Twin of the project. This ensures that contractors, regulators, and project managers all have access to the same data, reducing delays caused by miscommunication and version conflicts.
Example: A construction company working on a new airport terminal uses a blockchain-enabled Digital Twin to manage the project’s design and construction phases. Blockchain ensures that design changes, material specifications, and progress updates are immediately available to all stakeholders, improving collaboration and reducing the risk of costly errors or delays.
Conclusion: Blockchain as the Backbone of Digital Twin Collaboration
Blockchain is revolutionizing the way organizations manage and collaborate on Digital Twins. By providing a secure, decentralized, and transparent platform, blockchain eliminates the challenges of version control, enhances data security, and fosters trust among stakeholders. Whether used in smart cities, manufacturing, or large-scale infrastructure projects, blockchain-enabled Digital Twins offer a powerful solution for improving efficiency, reducing errors, and ensuring that all collaborators are working from the most accurate, up-to-date data.
As organizations continue to embrace Digital Twins to optimize their operations, integrating blockchain will become essential for managing complex, multi-stakeholder environments effectively.
As industries embrace digital transformation, the management of access control and permissions for complex digital assets, such as Digital Twins, has emerged as a crucial challenge. Digital Twins—digital replicas of physical assets, processes, or systems—are becoming indispensable in sectors ranging from construction and manufacturing to urban planning and infrastructure management. With the increasing complexity and value of these models, ensuring that access and modifications are restricted to authorized personnel is paramount. This is where blockchain technology offers a transformative solution.
The Challenge of Managing Access Control
Digital Twins are often collaborative efforts, involving multiple stakeholders such as engineers, architects, project managers, and clients. Each stakeholder requires different levels of access based on their role in the project. For instance:
Engineers may need full access to modify and update the Digital Twin.
Project Managers might only need viewing rights to monitor progress.
Clients may require access to specific reports or visualizations but not the underlying data.
Traditional access control systems struggle with this level of granularity, especially when multiple parties from different organizations are involved. Ensuring that the right people have the right level of access—without compromising the security and integrity of the Digital Twin—can be a complex and time-consuming task.
Blockchain as a Solution
Blockchain technology provides a decentralized, secure, and transparent way to manage access control and permissions for Digital Twins. By leveraging blockchain, organizations can ensure that:
Access is Restricted to Authorized Users: Blockchain allows for the creation of role-based access control systems that are both secure and flexible. Each user’s permissions can be defined in a smart contract—a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. These smart contracts automatically enforce access rules based on the user’s role, ensuring that only authorized individuals can access or modify the Digital Twin.
Immutable Audit Trails: Every action taken on a Digital Twin—whether it’s an update, access, or modification—is recorded on the blockchain. This creates an immutable audit trail that provides a transparent history of who accessed the Digital Twin, when, and what changes were made. This traceability is crucial for maintaining accountability and ensuring that the integrity of the Digital Twin is never compromised.
Automated Access Revocation: With traditional systems, revoking access can be a manual and error-prone process. Blockchain, through smart contracts, can automate the revocation of access when a user’s role changes or when they are no longer part of the project. This ensures that access control is always up-to-date and that no unauthorized users retain access to the Digital Twin.
Real-World Applications
The integration of blockchain for access control and permissions in Digital Twin management is already making an impact across various industries. Here are some examples:
Construction: In large-scale construction projects, Digital Twins are used to monitor progress and simulate different construction scenarios. Blockchain-based access control ensures that only authorized engineers can update the model with real-time data from the construction site, while project managers and clients can view the progress without risking unauthorized changes to the model.
Manufacturing: Digital Twins of manufacturing equipment and processes are used to optimize operations and predict maintenance needs. Blockchain technology is used to control access to these Digital Twins, ensuring that only maintenance teams can make modifications while operations managers can monitor performance metrics.
Urban Planning: Cities are increasingly using Digital Twins to simulate urban development and manage infrastructure. Blockchain-based access control allows different departments, such as transportation, utilities, and environmental agencies, to access the parts of the Digital Twin relevant to their operations while maintaining the overall integrity of the model.
Benefits of Blockchain-Enabled Access Control
The benefits of using blockchain for managing access control and permissions in Digital Twin environments are numerous:
Enhanced Security: Blockchain’s decentralized nature and cryptographic security features ensure that Digital Twins are protected from unauthorized access and tampering.
Improved Accountability: Immutable audit trails provide complete transparency, making it easier to track changes and hold stakeholders accountable for their actions.
Operational Efficiency: Automated access management reduces the administrative burden and ensures that access control policies are consistently enforced.
Scalability: Blockchain’s flexibility allows it to scale with the complexity of the Digital Twin, accommodating additional users, roles, and permissions as needed.
Conclusion
As Digital Twins continue to play a pivotal role in the digital transformation of industries, the importance of secure and efficient access control cannot be overstated. Blockchain technology provides a powerful solution for managing these digital assets, offering enhanced security, transparency, and automation. By integrating blockchain into their Digital Twin management strategies, organizations can ensure that their most valuable digital assets are protected and utilized to their fullest potential.
In recent years, Digital Twins have emerged as a transformative technology across various industries, offering real-time digital counterparts of physical assets, processes, or systems. From urban planning to infrastructure management, the ability to create and maintain these dynamic models has revolutionized how we interact with and optimize our physical environments. However, managing the lifecycle, access, and modifications of Digital Twins poses significant challenges, especially when multiple stakeholders are involved. This is where smart contracts—a fundamental feature of blockchain technology—play a critical role.
Understanding Smart Contracts
A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. These contracts automatically enforce and execute actions when predetermined conditions are met, without the need for intermediaries. Deployed on a blockchain, smart contracts are decentralized, immutable, and transparent, ensuring trust and security in transactions and agreements.
How Smart Contracts Work with Digital Twins
When applied to the management of Digital Twins, smart contracts can automate and secure various aspects of the process, including access control, updates, licensing, and data sharing. Below, we explore how smart contracts function in this context:
1. Access Control and Permissions
Digital Twins often involve collaboration among various stakeholders, such as engineers, architects, urban planners, and maintenance teams. Each party requires different levels of access to the Digital Twin, depending on their role.
How it works:- Role-Based Access: A smart contract can define and enforce access permissions based on the roles of stakeholders. For example, an engineer might have full access to modify and update the Digital Twin, while a project manager might only have viewing rights. The smart contract ensures that only authorized individuals can access specific data or functionalities within the Digital Twin.- Automated Access Revocation: If a stakeholder’s role changes or their involvement in the project ends, the smart contract can automatically revoke their access, ensuring that sensitive data remains secure.
2. Automated Updates and Data Integrity
One of the key benefits of Digital Twins is their ability to reflect real-time changes in the physical world. However, ensuring that updates to the Digital Twin are accurate, timely, and secure is crucial.
How it works:- Real-Time Synchronization: Smart contracts can be programmed to automatically update the Digital Twin when specific conditions are met. For instance, a sensor detecting a structural change in a building could trigger a smart contract to update the corresponding Digital Twin model.- Data Validation: Before an update is made, the smart contract can validate the data to ensure its accuracy and integrity. This prevents erroneous or unauthorized data from being incorporated into the Digital Twin, maintaining the model’s reliability.
3. Licensing and Intellectual Property Management
Digital Twins, especially those used in industries like construction and manufacturing, are often subject to complex licensing agreements. Managing these agreements manually can lead to inefficiencies, disputes, and potential revenue losses.
How it works:- Dynamic Licensing: Smart contracts can automate the enforcement of licensing terms for Digital Twins. For example, if a third party wants to use the Digital Twin for a specific purpose, a smart contract can automatically enforce the licensing conditions—such as duration, scope, and fees—without manual intervention.- Royalty Payments: If a Digital Twin or its data is used to create derivative works, the smart contract can automatically calculate and distribute royalties to the rightful owners. This ensures that intellectual property rights are respected and that all parties receive fair compensation.
4. Secure Data Sharing and Collaboration
Collaboration is a cornerstone of Digital Twin projects, often involving multiple organizations working together. However, sharing data securely and ensuring that all collaborators have access to the most current information can be challenging.
How it works:- Blockchain-Backed Data Sharing: Smart contracts facilitate secure data sharing between collaborators. For instance, when a new design iteration is completed, a smart contract can automatically share the update with all relevant stakeholders, ensuring everyone works with the latest information.- Audit Trails: Every action taken within the Digital Twin ecosystem—such as data access, modifications, or transfers—is recorded on the blockchain. Smart contracts automatically generate these records, providing a transparent and immutable audit trail. This enhances accountability and simplifies the process of resolving disputes or conducting audits.
5. Condition-Based Maintenance and Service Agreements
In industries like manufacturing and infrastructure management, Digital Twins are often used to monitor the condition of physical assets and schedule maintenance activities.
How it works:- Automated Maintenance Triggers: A smart contract can be programmed to trigger maintenance activities based on data from the Digital Twin. For example, if the Digital Twin indicates that a machine part is nearing the end of its operational life, the smart contract can automatically schedule maintenance, order replacement parts, or even initiate a service request.- Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Smart contracts can enforce SLAs by ensuring that maintenance is carried out within the agreed-upon timeframes. If the service provider fails to meet the SLA, the smart contract can automatically impose penalties or escalate the issue.
Real-World Applications
The integration of smart contracts with Digital Twins is not just theoretical; it is already being explored and implemented in various industries:
Construction: In large-scale construction projects, smart contracts manage the distribution of BIM (Building Information Modeling) data, automate payment releases upon the completion of milestones, and enforce compliance with regulatory standards.- Manufacturing: Companies use Digital Twins combined with smart contracts to monitor the health of machinery and automate supply chain processes, ensuring timely maintenance and minimizing downtime.- Urban Planning: City planners leverage Digital Twins of urban environments to simulate and plan new developments. Smart contracts ensure that all updates and modifications to the Digital Twin are approved and recorded, maintaining a consistent and accurate representation of the city’s infrastructure.
The combination of smart contracts and Digital Twins represents a significant advancement in the management of digital assets. By automating processes, ensuring data integrity, and enforcing agreements, smart contracts provide a secure, efficient, and transparent framework for managing the complex lifecycle of Digital Twins. As more industries adopt these technologies, the potential for innovation and improved operational efficiency will only continue to grow.
As the digital transformation of industries accelerates, the management of Digital Twins and Building Information Models (BIM) has emerged as a critical challenge. These models are fundamental in sectors such as construction, urban planning, and facility management, providing detailed representations of physical assets and enabling advanced simulations and analyses. However, the complexity of these models, coupled with the involvement of multiple stakeholders, presents significant challenges in maintaining data integrity, managing derivative works, and ensuring the enforcement of contracts.
Blockchain technology offers a powerful solution to these challenges by providing a secure, decentralized, and transparent system for managing Digital Twins and BIM models. Here’s how blockchain can revolutionize this space:
Data Integrity and Security: - Example: Consider a large-scale infrastructure project involving a Digital Twin of a smart city. The model needs to be frequently updated with data from various sensors, construction teams, and urban planners. With blockchain, every update to the Digital Twin is recorded on an immutable ledger, ensuring that the data remains consistent and secure over time. This prevents unauthorized changes, ensuring that all stakeholders can trust the data’s accuracy and reliability. - Benefit: Blockchain’s decentralized ledger makes it nearly impossible for any single entity to alter the data without detection, significantly reducing the risk of data tampering and ensuring that the Digital Twin remains a trustworthy source of information throughout the project lifecycle.
Provenance and Traceability: - Example: In the development of a new commercial building, the BIM model undergoes multiple iterations, with contributions from architects, engineers, and contractors. Blockchain enables each modification to the model to be logged with a timestamp and the identity of the contributor. If a design flaw is later discovered, stakeholders can trace back through the blockchain to identify who made each change, when it was made, and the rationale behind it. - Benefit: This level of traceability ensures accountability and transparency, allowing project managers to easily audit the development process and maintain a clear history of the model’s evolution. It also simplifies the process of compliance with regulatory requirements by providing an unalterable record of the model’s development.
Smart Contracts and Licensing: - Example: Imagine a scenario where a BIM model is used by multiple subcontractors for different aspects of a construction project. Each contractor needs access to specific parts of the model under certain licensing agreements. With blockchain, smart contracts can automatically enforce these agreements—granting access only to authorized users and ensuring that usage complies with the predefined terms. For instance, a smart contract could be set to automatically release payment when a subcontractor completes a specific task using the BIM model, and this action would be recorded on the blockchain. - Benefit: Smart contracts streamline the enforcement of licensing and usage agreements, reducing the administrative burden on project managers and ensuring compliance without the need for manual oversight. This automation also reduces the risk of legal disputes by ensuring that all parties adhere to the agreed-upon terms.
Collaboration and Version Control: - Example: In a complex project like the construction of a new transportation hub, multiple teams—ranging from civil engineers to environmental consultants—need to collaborate on the BIM model. Blockchain facilitates this by providing a single, shared ledger where every change to the model is recorded and visible to all authorized parties. If an engineer updates the model with new structural data, this update is immediately available to the entire team, and the blockchain ensures that the change is properly recorded and cannot be overwritten without consensus. - Benefit: This approach eliminates version conflicts and ensures that all stakeholders are working from the most up-to-date data. It fosters a more collaborative environment by enabling secure, transparent sharing of information across teams, reducing the likelihood of errors and rework.
Conclusion:
The integration of blockchain technology into the management of Digital Twins and BIM models provides a robust solution to some of the most pressing challenges in the construction and infrastructure sectors. By ensuring data integrity, enhancing traceability, automating contract enforcement, and improving collaboration, blockchain not only addresses current challenges but also paves the way for new opportunities in project management and digital asset management. As industries continue to adopt digital technologies, blockchain’s role in managing the complex lifecycle of Digital Twins and BIM models will become increasingly vital.
I’ve been working with Digital Twins for almost 10 years and as simple as the concept is, ontologies get in the way of implementations. The big deal is how can you implement, how does one actually create a digital twin and deploy it to your users.
Let’s be honest though, the Azure Digital Twin service/product is complex and requires a ton of work. It isn’t an upload CAD drawing and connect some data sources. In this case Meijers does a great job of walking through how to get started. But it isn’t for beginners, you’ll need to have previous experience with Azure Cloud services, Microsoft Visual Studio and the ability to debug code. But if you’ve got even a general understand of this, the walk throughs are detailed enough to learn the idiosyncrasies of the Azure Digital Twin process.
The book does take you through the process of understanding what an Azure Digital Twin model is, how to upload them, developing relationships between models and how to query them. After you have an understanding on this, Meijers dives into connecting the model to services, updating the Azure Digital Twin models and then connecting to Microsoft Azure Maps to view the model on maps. Finally he showcases how these Digital Twins can become smart buildings which is the hopeful outcome of doing all the work.
The book has a lot of code examples and ability to download it all from a Github repository. Knowledge of JSON and JavaScript, Python and .NET or Java is probably required. BUT, even if you don’t know how to code, this book is a good introduction to Azure Digital Twins. While there are pages of code examples, Meijers does a good job of explaining the how and why you would use Azure Digital Twins. If you’re interesting in how you can use a hosted Digital Twin service that is managed by a cloud service, this is a great resource.
I felt like I knew Azure Digital Twins before reading this book, but it taught me a lot about how and why Microsoft did what they did with the service. Many aspects that caused me to scratch my head became clearer to me and I felt like this book gave me additional background that I didn’t have before. This book requires an understanding of programming but after finishing it I felt like Meijers' ability to describe the process outside of code makes the book well worth it to anyone who wants to understand the concept and architecture of Azure Digital Twins.
A couple years ago (holy smokes, 10 years ago), I wrote a Perl script that took all the blog posts I wrote at Spatially Adjusted (if they exist) for a certain day and send me a morning email for my review. At the time I did this because some content I wrote was good (few, but some) and it was always good to revisit it. But as time has gone on, I feel so disconnected from the person who wrote those blog posts.
I was thinking about Planet Geospatial and how much I enjoyed reading it. It’s just not that world anymore, people just share thoughts on Twitter or LinkedIn (or whatever social media platform the kids are on these days). But that content, those blog posts, those people, those commenters was pure gold. Sure, there are things like #GISChat, but if you were there from 2005-2014, there was something happening.
No, I’m not bringing Planet Geospatial back, even if I wanted to dust off the old Perl scripts, the content just isn’t there anymore. But we just aren’t the same people anymore. No longer do we sit at a text entry box and sweat the details of what we write, no it’s one line and a GIF, a meme, or some other jerky comment. Hell, I think 60% of my tweets are a GIF only response. It isn’t that I don’t have anything to say, just that I don’t have anything to say in 280 chars.
I guess that’s why I’m blogging again, to try and put some thought into things, but not feel like I must write something long (despite what you are reading right now). I feel like doing what I want to do, other than worrying about what GIF to attach. But back to the beginning of this post, who was that guy writing all that content. The posts come across my screen, and I know I wrote them, just that I’ve come on such a journey, it all seems like someone else wrote them. And maybe that’s OK, because we grow. Or maybe we grow a shell on ourselves, hiding away real thoughts behind a GIF.
I think that’s it, what Spatially Adjusted showed is 100% true me. The humor hiding insecurity, the want to discover what others are doing, learning by sharing, friendships and honest to goodness, just laughing at the seriousness of ourselves. I guess that’s still me, “doing GIS”, helping customers do more with location technology, while enjoying the shit out of it. I’m not dying here, nor am I taking a job as a manager at the McDonalds. Just wondering where this road is headed, probably someplace with a map for sure.
As my son starts his journey in Geography and GIS, I have almost my whole professional life in a blog for him to follow. I was 32 when I started, 18 years of me for him to read. But honestly, he knows all about it. He went to the conferences, heard me on the phone talking, watched me blog on the couch, saw me move from company to company in search of what drives me. Someone said to me my CV must be long by this point in my life. It sure is brother, it sure is. But I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.
Yet, I still read that email every morning and wonder what they heck was going on in that authors head. I can’t remember anymore; I just see the text. Seems like a fun guy.
JPEG took advantage of various compression tricks to dramatically shrink images compared to other formats like GIF. The latest version of glTF similarly takes advantage of techniques for compressing both geometry of 3D objects and their textures.
It is widely supported these days but it really isn’t a great format for BIM models or other digital twin layers because it is more of a visual format than a data storage model. Think of it similar to a JPEG, great for final products, but you don’t want to work with it for your production data.
IFC is a much better format for Digital Twins but glTF does a great job with interoperability and storage. Much like you might want to store GIS data in a Geodatabase and share a map with JPEG, you should store your data in IFC and share as glTF.
My son’s graduation present (delayed a year because of COVID) was a trip to Italy. I’m stuck at home with two sick kids with earaches, watching him through Find My app. I’m so proud of him and excited for him to see Italy.
Plus he got to buy his first legal beer at the Heathrow Airport.
Funny how when you start talking about something, it triggers some other thing. Well in a discussion about SpaceX with friends, I began to think about TerraServer. I couldn’t remember what happened to it, but of course I blogged about it over 10 years ago.
In its time, I used it to test WMS, but I’m not sure I ever really used it for anything else. Much like LandSat, I’ll shed no tears. It served its purpose and now it must die.
OUCH! Boy, I hope when I go I get a better eulogy. I don’t think I was being completely fair about TerraServer. I mean Jim Gray, scaling SQL Server on Windows NT, how could one not geek out. I used to be very hard to get access to open data and TerraServer did bring a ton of imagery data to users.
The TerraServer demonstrates the scalability of Microsoft’s Windows NT Server and SQL Server running on Compaq AlphaServer 8400 and StorageWorks™ hardware.
That’s the world it grew up in. Cheers TerraServer! 🗺
I was just thinking about the iPod today and how it used to be such a critical part of my life. Now not only do I not use an iPod but I don’t even buy my music anymore, just use Apple Music. But back then, fitting all my music on an iPod was amazing.
The last iPod I ever bought was this one, an iPod nano 7th generation.
I bought it for my wedding back in 2015. I wanted to make sure our song for the first dance was not screwed up and I had zero faith the band could manage it without something as simple as an iPod. Because engraving was free, I added this touch.
This spring, my son changed his major to GIS. He almost did Geography, but I was able to convince him these computers are going to take off eventually and he needs to have something more modern. He’s finished up his first semester and he says he loves it. We’ll see!
I told him all that matters is he spends time on Python. I’ve already exposed him to it when his major was Biology, but I would wager it means even more for GIS. He starts some of these classes this fall so I can’t wait to see what they are teaching him at Arizona State’s School of Geographical Sciences & Urban Planning.
I’ve been thinking about how to start sharing content again. I have a couple ways in the past but they are all disjointed:
Spatially Adjusted - my blog I’ve been posting to since 2005. I feel like has done what it needed to do and I need to move on. Great content, but that’s not how I work anymore.
Spatial Tau - my newsletter. I’ve been hot and cold with this, I have some of the best reactions from people about it, but I don’t like the interface. I could move people over here but I don’t know if that is the best solution. Maybe content is needed.
Podcasts - I’ve had a couple; Hangouts with James Fee, Cageyjames and Geobabbler are probably the two biggest ones. I just haven’t had time to edit a podcast anymore.
I backed micro.blog years ago on Kickstarter and I’ve liked the interface, so maybe this is where I’ll try and post now. I reserve the right to change my mind.
📷
