The team behind The Apollo Protocol white paper, which calls for a common language across digital twins, are to reveal details of how they will begin to set up The Apollo Forum at a live streamed launch event on 25 October.
The Apollo Protocol represents the combined efforts of the IET, The Construction Leadership Council (CLC), The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), The High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, The Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB), The Construction Innovation Hub, The Digital Twin Hub, techUK and The Alan Turing Institute. The project has the support of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Innovate UK.
Since its launch last month, The Apollo Protocol has reportedly attracted critical acclaim and enthusiasm from the digital twin community in manufacturing, construction, and the built environment, and the technology sector. Downloads of the white paper proposing the cross-sector approach to digital twins have ‘exceeded expectations,’ and a Network for participants has been set up on the Digital Twin Hub.
At a live launch on 25 October, the team behind the initiative will reveal details of how the Apollo Forum will begin its work. Currently, The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) says, ‘the manufacturing and built environment sectors are developing digital twins separately using different language and business models’. The IET said: “Many of our challenges, such as Net Zero and economic sustainability, require sectors to work together.”
The white paper, published by the IET, and supported by a wide range of leading organisations, sets out a proposal to unlock the benefits of digital twins between the built environment and manufacturing sectors. It argues for the establishment of The Apollo Forum to explore four key themes:
- A single value chain for information and data services and requirements.
- Circular supply chains between the sectors.
- Optimised performance through technology enabled information sharing, and
- Managed human capital and resources between the sectors.
The IET said: “The Forum will be established by practical cross-sector events where manufacturers and asset owners can articulate their data needs or technology offerings to map out the beginnings of a unified value chain, exploring solutions and unblocking practical barriers. The work is to be supported through Innovate UK to develop the UK’s capability in Cyber Physical Infrastructure. Events will commence as early as November 2022.
Neil Thompson, Digital Manufacturing and Performance lead at the Construction Leadership Council, and IET Built Environment Panel Chair, explained: “The data needs of manufacturers and asset owners across our sectors are hampered by a lack of collaboration and language barriers. The Apollo Forum events we have planned will enable us to map out those needs, identify technical and other support, and ultimately develop valuable cross-sector solutions for the participants. Along the way we will begin to identify how to write The Apollo Protocol, but we will achieve it by taking practical steps to solving real life problems.”
Asset owners, manufacturers, and ‘others interested in overcoming barriers to cross-sector collaboration’, are invited to learn more about how they can take part in The Apollo Forum events by joining the live stream at 3.30 pm on 25 October. A link to the live stream will be available on the Apollo Protocol Network on the Digital Twin Hub shortly before the event.
To join the live streamed launch event, visit https://bit.ly/ApolloProtocolDTHub
