NBN Co puts a longer predictive lens on its digital twin ambitions

NBN Co is hoping that its latest foray into digital twin technology will enable it to predict network performance and customer experience, building on six years of internal work with the technology.

The network operator this week signed a three-year agreement with RMIT University, under which an “exploratory laboratory” called R-NEX Lab will be built.

The lab is expected to work on a digital twin “for detailed scenario planning and options analysis” and to support AI and robotics programs.

As previously reported by iTnews, NBN Co has been investigating digital twin technology since 2019.

This work accelerated in 2022 when the company sought to assemble a small team for an internal lab in its CTO office to build proof-of-concepts capable of assessing future network designs.

An NBN Co spokesperson told iTnews that work to date has “included investigating what information from the network may usefully inform a digital twin and how the company can gain access to information in near real time.”

“We have also explored various technologies and logic, which can support a ‘current state’ digital twin, which would show in near real-time what is happening on the network, how customer services are performing and the relationship between the two,” the spokesperson said.

“Our investigations have significantly contributed to the evolving vision of the NBN Co network operations and emergency management teams, with proof-of-concepts demonstrating various potential benefits, and guiding us in operationalising them.”

The spokesperson suggested some lessons have been taken from this work that may be tested in the joint RMIT lab.

“It is important to present information from a digital twin both visually, and crucially, in ways that enable action to be taken,” the spokesperson said.

“It is equally important to have a mechanism to ensure that the digital twin remains updateable and relevant.”

Where NBN Co’s work in the digital twin space so far has enabled it to get an accurate view of the ‘current state’ of the network, the next stage is to be able to more accurately predict future state.

“We aim to build on the work done so far, with a specific focus on using digital twins for scenario modelling,” the spokesperson said.

“This will involve modelling the NBN network to understand how it may perform in the future, which will help us anticipate and improve the customer experience.”

NBN Co’s CTO Guy Scott said the work with RMIT would take digital twin technology at the company “to a whole new level”.

“The digital twin will be a powerful tool for modelling the nbn® network and our services over the next decade and beyond, using large, real-world datasets for all our access technologies in different locations,” Scott said.

“It will better enable us to verify forward forecasts on the physical network, cost design and lifecycle decisions.

“This is crucially important for NBN Co as we continue to optimise and maximise the performance and resilience of the network to mitigate against network congestion, planned and unplanned outages and extreme weather events.”

Scott also said the digital twin would “help build advanced knowledge of service outages, devise predictive measures and tools for forecasting network availability and performance, predict trends and scenarios, which enable proactive network management, improve resilience of the network and support the delivery of improved customer experience.”

RMIT said the agreement would give NBN Co “access to new research expertise” while also developing pathways for students at the university to join the company.