Experts tout digital twins for dual wins in harsh fiber environments

Experts at Fiber Connect convened to address the need for new approaches to fiber deployments in challenging environments. Notably, digital twins for network infrastructure emerged as a key strategy for service providers. A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical network that can be created to simulate its performance, test different scenarios, and identify potential issues before physical production. Scott Casey, VP at CycloMedia Technology, a mapping system software company, said he has seen “a pretty significant trend” over the last three or four years toward operators using a digital outside plant environment “as much as possible.” Especially in harsh environments, using a virtualized digital plant means sending less people out in the field into harm's way. “It also means that you can do some of the work that you might have had to do during the winter, you can do it from the desktop, anytime,” added Casey. Just about every company that CycloMedia works with has a digital system, whether it’s through computer-aided design (CAD) or geographic information system (GIS) software, according to Casey. However, the data quality contributing to these systems is lacking.