Data-Driven Simulation Optimization in the Age of Digital Twins: Challenges and Developments

A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical system, continuously updated with data from the physical system, enabling dynamic information exchange and decision-making. This bidirectional interaction, the key distinction from traditional simulations, introduces unique challenges to simulation optimization. These challenges encompass streaming data, system nonstationarity, and real-time decision-making. This tutorial reviews recent advancements and methodologies aimed at addressing these issues, with a focus on data-driven simulation optimization under streaming data.