Bridging Technology and Business: A Digital Twin Taxonomy for Value Creation

In recent years, value creation by means of Digital Twins (DT) has gained increasing popularity. The connection between virtual replicas and real objects is considered as a potential value driver, with implications for various sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, and the building sector. Nevertheless, structured approaches for DT business model development remain scarce. Therefore, we have developed a taxonomy of DT-driven business models. Based on a systematic literature review of 28 relevant studies and the analysis of 22 real-world use cases, we identify seven meta-dimensions, 14 dimensions, and 58 characteristics. The resulting taxonomy provides a structured classification of the different development approaches and facilitates the systematic analysis of DT-driven business models. In addition, 21 business models are examined to demonstrate the usefulness of the taxonomy. Our taxonomy also shows how DTs can be integrated into business models as a key resource and provides a conceptual basis for future research.