UK Digital Twin Centre targets GBP £62 million boost

The UK Digital Twin Centre has officially opened in Belfast to support the adoption of digital twin technology across key UK industries.

The Centre has been established by Digital Catapult with support from the Belfast Region City Deal and Innovate UK, aiming to deliver up to GBP £62 million in gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy over the next ten years. Digital twins, dynamic virtual representations of physical assets or systems, are expected to play a significant part in transforming a range of UK sectors by providing real-time insights for optimisation, cost reduction and predictive maintenance.

Industry and technology stakeholders have been involved in the project since its initial funding, with Digital Catapult leading efforts to identify adoption challenges and develop strategies to overcome them. Collaboration with Artemis Technologies, Spirit AeroSystems, and Thales UK has enabled the Centre to demonstrate potential applications of digital twins at the new facility.

At the opening, demonstrations were conducted using the Centre's advanced technology lab and a 360-degree immersive space. These use cases highlighted digital twins' capacity to address operational challenges through cross-sector cooperation, sharing expertise to improve product design, enhance supply chain resilience, and support the decarbonisation of operations.

The Centre will run programmes to help businesses across the UK understand, test, and implement digital twins. With access to expert mentorship, test environments and state-of-the-art tools, companies can experiment safely and learn from shared industry experiences. The Centre brings together capabilities across six technology areas: intelligence, data services, immersive and user experience, cyber-physical systems, integration, and security, which should make the technology more accessible and interoperable.

The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Micky Murray, stated, "The UK Digital Twin Centre marks a major step for Belfast, driving innovation in high-growth sectors like advanced manufacturing. Through the Belfast Region City Deal and with Digital Catapult's UK-wide reach, we're connecting our SMEs to a powerful network, unlocking access to new markets, collaboration opportunities, and cutting-edge technologies. This will boost local businesses, create high-skilled jobs, and drive real economic impact for the region."

The Centre's first six-month Accelerator Programme is now open for pre-application expressions of interest. It will support partnerships between technology SMEs and industry in the maritime, aerospace, and defence sectors. Supported by Innovate UK funding, participants will benefit from mentorship, workshops, and specialist support to develop proofs of concept in enabling technologies such as IoT, data integration, and simulation tools.

Susan Bowen, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Catapult, said, "The UK Digital Twin Centre brings together our technical expertise, facilities, and networks to unlock the power of deep technologies. By connecting industries with cutting-edge technology through our programmes, we are enabling businesses to harness the full potential of digital twins—driving operational efficiencies, advancing sustainability, and sharpening the competitive edge of UK businesses."

Dean Cook, Executive Director for Place and Global at Innovate UK, commented, "Seeing real-world use cases coming to life at the UK Digital Twin Centre is a powerful demonstration of how digital twins can deliver tangible advances for UK industry. These cutting edge tools will solve complex business challenges in aerospace, maritime, and defence."

"It's a testament to how we are leveraging the strengths of local innovation clusters across the UK, with Belfast bringing together it's wealth of business and research expertise in digital technologies and advanced manufacturing. In turn this will have a positive impact on economic growth in Northern Ireland and across the UK."

Expressions of interest are now being accepted for the accelerator programme, which is designed to foster collaboration between technology SMEs and established industry sectors on real-world challenges.

The Centre has launched with co-investment from its three major industry partners, who are collectively developing an initial six use cases to demonstrate the deployability and impact of digital twin technologies.