Mind the Trust Gap !
Digital Twins ( DT ), virtual representations of real-world entities and processes synchronized at a specified frequency and fidelity in industrial settings , connect the virtual and physical worlds enabling new opportunities and efficiency through digital transformation . But as these DT systems become increasingly complex and various vendor platforms are involved , there is a growing need to communicate trustworthiness information between systems , where according to the Industry IoT Consortium ( IIC ) 1 , trustworthiness consists of the security , safety , reliability , resilience and privacy characteristics considered holistically .
To be adopted at scale , Digital Twins need an interoperable and understandable model for maintaining security and safety assurance that satisfies all stakeholders ( technical , business , and regulatory ) and one which accounts for all the necessary dimensions of trustworthiness at the time .
This article outlines a strategy based on work from the Digital Twin Consortium ( DTC ) 2 and Industry IoT Consortium ( IIC ) to establish and communicate trustworthiness metrics enabling counterparties to rely upon and thus act on trustworthiness data in complex and dynamic systems .
This paper is an introduction to the topic which is expanded upon in more detail in a corresponding upcoming DTC whitepaper 3 .
Today ’ s safety and security landscape is largely static and avoidance-based , by which we mean that the approach toward risk is typically a list of known things to not do as well as a list of certain controls to support . This is based on a concrete understanding of exactly how the system is composed , how it has operated in the past , and where it will operate . This presumes that the system is well defined and does not change and assumes that all hazards and threats are known and can thus be avoided through foresight .
This static approach provides a degree of safety , especially at the outset , but is also inflexible since it does not deal well with change or with opportunistic system interconnections . The price paid for relative certainty at the design stage is the inability to move to new operating models or adapt to new environmental conditions during the much longer operational stage . This means
3
“ Assuring Trustworthiness in Dynamic Systems Using Digital Twins and Trust Vectors ”, Digital Twin Consortium whitepaper to be published .
Journal of Innovation 61