This initial BoF meeting is focused on a scoping exercise looking closely at the benefits and data challenges brought forward by emerging digital twin efforts. 

The BoF aims to introduce the wider topic of digital twins, exploring different dimensions of digital twins from data-driven science and policy making to data challenges including best practices and standards for ingestion and harmonisation, building data pipelines, FAIRification and data quality. 

The discussions will aim to help identify gaps and opportunities, and shed light on the stakeholders involved and incentives, furthermore it will pave the way for a future RDA Digital Twins group https://www.rd-alliance.org/groups/digital-twins-ig

• Introductions and Overview of BoF Objectives 
• Mapping Digital Twin Activities and Related Data Challenges Use Cases
  • Destination Earth
  • Digital Twin Ocean 
  • Cross-Digital Twin efforts 
  • Building Immune Digital Twins WG 
• Challenges 
  • Information management – An Information Management Framework for Environmental Digital Twins (IMFe) – Alexandra Kokkinaki
• Next Steps for the Group IG/WG/CoP 

Multiple digital twin projects have emerged over the recent years, focusing on diverse domains from Earth Sciences and adaptation to climate change, to health and life sciences, to engineering. An alignment in terms of approaches and also common understanding aromd the data related challenges can help make the most of these efforts while building on the experince and expertise of the research data community.