Digital twins in sustainable transition: exploring the role of EU data governance

Abstract

Introduction: Digital twins can accelerate sustainable development by leveraging big data and artificial intelligence to simulate state, reactions and potential developments of physical systems. In doing so, they can create a comprehensive basis for data-driven policy decisions. One of the purposes of digital twins is to facilitate the implementation of the EU's Green Deal-in line with internationally binding climate and environmental targets. One prerequisite for the success of digital twins is a comprehensive, high-quality database. This requires a suitable legal framework that ensures access to such data. Methods: Applying a qualitative governance analysis, the following article examines if the EU's strategies and legal acts on data governance are paving the way for digital twin projects which promote sustainability. Results: Results show important starting points for open and fair data use within the growing field of EU digital law. However, there is still a lot of progress to be made to legally link the use of digital twins with binding sustainability objectives.