Harnessing Digital Twins in the Cloud: From Manufacturing to Smart Cities

Digital twins are no longer futuristic concepts. They’re real-time, data-driven virtual representations of physical assets, processes, or systems—and they’re redefining how industries operate. As cloud computing becomes more accessible and scalable, the adoption of digital twins is accelerating, especially across manufacturing and urban infrastructure. The global digital twin market was valued at USD 17.73 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to USD 259.32 billion by 2032, exhibiting a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 40.1% during the forecast period.*

At Kartaca, we’re helping enterprises and governments harness the full power of cloud-based digital twins to drive innovation, resilience, and sustainability. Whether you’re managing a factory floor or an urban traffic grid, digital twins can turn complex, siloed systems into intelligent, responsive ecosystems.

What’s Driving Adoption?

According to McKinsey, digital twins have become a strategic priority for 70% of large enterprises, and cloud technology is key to making them scalable and interoperable. The need for real-time visibility, predictive insights, and reduced operational risk is prompting businesses to reassess their legacy infrastructure.

For manufacturers, the pain points are clear:

• High costs of unplanned downtime
• Lack of end-to-end visibility in production
• Complex supply chain disruptions
• Inability to simulate changes before implementation

For smart city planners and public sector leaders, challenges include:

• Data silos between agencies and systems
• Traffic congestion and energy inefficiencies
• Slow response to environmental and infrastructure issues
• Citizen engagement and service delivery gaps

KPMG states that governments can achieve an ROI of approximately US$9 for every US$1 spent on digital twins for infrastructure. Digital twins could help governments reduce design costs by 50%, cut construction permitting times in half, and decrease overall maintenance costs by 20%.

Cloud + Digital Twins: A Scalable Match

Traditional digital twin deployments were often local, hardware-intensive, and hard to integrate. Cloud technology changes that. Platforms like Google Cloud offer scalable, secure environments with integrated AI, ML, and IoT capabilities, enabling the end-to-end power of digital twins.

Cloud-native digital twins can:

• Collect and analyze streaming data from IoT sensors
• Enable real-time collaboration across teams and locations
• Use AI to simulate scenarios and predict outcomes
• Scale across multiple assets or city districts without infrastructure overhead

Key Use Cases We’re Seeing

1. Predictive Maintenance in Manufacturing

Predictive maintenance powered by digital twins is already reducing downtime and saving costs across the manufacturing sector. With cloud-based simulation, teams can spot anomalies early, plan interventions, and extend machine life.

2. Smart Traffic and Mobility Planning

Cities like Singapore and Helsinki are using digital twins to model and manage urban mobility. By integrating traffic sensors, weather data, and AI algorithms in the cloud, they can dynamically reroute traffic, optimize public transportation, and reduce emissions. The Survey of India, for example, is actively creating digital twins of major cities to aid in city planning, policymaking, and disaster management efforts.*

3. Energy Grid Optimization

Utilities can model entire energy networks in real time, adjusting for demand spikes, outages, or sustainability targets. With Google Cloud’s AI tools, grid operators can simulate future energy usage and identify the most efficient mix of renewables and storage. For example, Siemens is utilizing a digital twin to model energy demand and infrastructure in Berlin, with completion scheduled for 2035. An EY research indicates that digital twins can reduce a building’s carbon emissions by 50%.

4. Supply Chain Resilience

A digital twin of your supply chain can highlight vulnerabilities and simulate the impact of disruptions. With cloud-based platforms, stakeholders worldwide can collaborate in real-time, utilizing shared dashboards and AI-driven recommendations. McKinsey analysis indicates that supply chain disruptions cost, on average, 45% of a company’s annual cash profit, highlighting the critical need for resilience enabled by digital twins.

Why It Matters to Decision-Makers

For CIOs and CTOs, digital twins are not just a tech initiative. They’re a business transformation lever. They enable you to:

• Make faster, evidence-based decisions
• Reduce operational costs and risk
• Drive sustainability through better resource usage
• Enable innovation without disrupting operations

From a CEO or mayor’s perspective, digital twins create a competitive edge, whether it’s through improved citizen services, safer infrastructure, or more agile operations.

The convergence of digital twins and generative AI presents a powerful pairing. Gen AI can accelerate modeling and scenario planning, while digital twins offer a reality-checked feedback loop to refine AI outputs. Together, they unlock a new frontier of efficiency and innovation.

How Kartaca Can Help

At Kartaca, we specialize in cloud-native architecture and AI integration. We help manufacturers and governments design and deploy digital twins on platforms like Google Cloud, ensuring:

• Seamless data integration from IoT, ERP, and SCADA systems
• AI/ML-based simulation models
• Real-time dashboards for decision-makers
• Scalable, secure, and compliant deployments

We’re not just building digital twins. We’re building the foundation for real-time intelligence across industries.

Ready to take your operations to the next level with digital twins in the cloud? Let’s build your digital twin strategy together. Contact us to get started.

⭐⭐⭐

Kartaca is a Google Cloud Premier Partner with approved “Cloud Migration” and “Data Analytics” specializations.