How Digital Twins Can Be Used to Maximise Social Value Creation

The use of digital twins in the UK construction industry is growing. They offer a wealth of well-explored benefits that essentially aim to make the construction industry more efficient and effective. Social value is a concept that is equally growing in prominence in both research and industry importance. Social value is predominantly concerned with ensuring the construction industry has maximum positive benefits for the communities in which it operates. However, a problem exists in that contractors have finite resources, and so to focus on multiple initiatives is not always practical or even possible. This is potentially serving to restrict the development of both concepts and limit the benefits either can achieve. This impacts both the contractors caught in the middle of competing demands and also the wider stakeholders who would potentially be the recipients of enhanced efficiency and increased value. By addressing this problem, this research seeks to reconcile the potentially competing concepts of digital twins and social value. The aim of this research is to identify areas where both concepts overlap so that contractors can have a single focus and achieve both digital twin and social value benefits. By conducting an in-depth and analytical review of the extant literature, this research serves to identify overlapping themes and potential areas of value co-creation. The findings of this research reveal that with further digital twin development, and an enhanced and holistic view of social value, efficiencies in delivery can be created. This would serve to ensure social value data can inform digital twin decisions, allowing contractors to focus on both concepts, requiring fewer resources yet achieving higher value creation for all stakeholders.