Belfast Region City Deal and Innovate UK have announced a 拢37.6m investment in the UK Digital Twin Centre.
The centre aims to revolutionise how industries develop products, services and systems across the UK.
It will aim to accelerate the industry鈥檚 adoption of digital twins through providing access to technologies, reducing the costs of production and developing skills in the workforce.聽
Led by Digital Catapult, the centre has been endorsed by the UK industry, launching with co-investment from three major industry partners in Thales UK, Spirit AeroSystems and Artemis Technologies.聽
Enabled by a core investment from Innovate UK into the centre and the associated programmes, the partners will deliver an initial six use cases to demonstrate the potential of digital twins in transforming the maritime, aerospace and defence sectors.聽
It will also provide a collaborative space for industry, academia and the public sector to foster cross-sector innovation.
鈥淭his is an ambitious project that will bring exciting opportunities for collaboration and accelerate the fantastic transformation Belfast鈥檚 digital sector is already witnessing,鈥� said Chris Heaton-Harris, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
鈥淭he UK Government鈥檚 拢350m investment into the Belfast Region City Deal will be used to support this project and ensure that we continue to make good progress across the City and Growth Deal programme, bringing even more prosperity to Northern Ireland, and ensuring it is the best place in the world to invest.聽
鈥淚 look forward to visiting the new centre once it is open and hearing more about the fantastic opportunities it will bring to Belfast and Northern Ireland more widely.鈥�
Increasingly being adopted across global industry, digital twins are virtual models of a physical object or system which can be informed by streamed data from a real-world version or environment.聽
The 拢15m of funding from the Belfast Region City Deal will help support core research and the building of skills and capability, which will support the region鈥檚 ambition to build innovation and digital capability, increase productivity, support reaching net zero targets and create more jobs.聽
The Centre has committed to contributing 230 new jobs in the manufacturing sector across the UK, and to generate 拢61m for the local economy in Northern Ireland by 2033.
Deborah Colville, UK Digital Twin Centre director at Digital Catapult, added: 鈥�Today鈥檚 announcement is a pivotal moment in realising the real-world value of Digital Twins for the UK.聽
鈥淭he Centre will give businesses across the UK access to the expertise, technology and resources necessary to accelerate the adoption of digital twins to reduce design and manufacturing costs, help meet net zero targets and drive competitive advantage globally.鈥�
The UK Digital Twin Centre will run a series of programmes for all levels of industry to drive innovation and realise new value.