Digital Twins in the Context of Ensuring Sustainable Industrial Development

Background: Currently, there is a megatrend towards digitalisation and servitisation using digital technologies and digital twins to support the digital transformation of the economy. In the literature, new digital technologies are seen as creating added value, strengthening customer relationships and accelerating the process of servitisation from manufacturing. The implementation of such a complex of technologies and business solutions can lead to the adaptation of the product and service life cycle, as well as the entire business model, to full servitisation.Objective: This study reveals the role of digital twins in the context of entrepreneurship in compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By constructing a thematic map of scientific clusters and SDGs, the relationship between science and practical aspects is established.Methods: Research into digital twins has led to the use of research methods such as scientific abstraction and synthesis, historical, grouping, analogy, structural-logical modelling, tabular and logical generalisation methods, as well as the bibliometric analysis method based on VOSviewer software.Results: The study analyses the evolution of the latest technology, which demonstrates the relevance of digital twins as one of the key technologies for digitalisation in many business processes. Special attention is paid to the role of digital twins in the implementation of the SDGs. The results of the bibliometric review indicate scientific interest in researching digital twins in the fields of modelling, information technology, operational management, automation and robotics. The thematic map combining scientific clusters and SDGs highlights the importance of digital twins in entrepreneurship and ensuring sustainable industrial development.Conclusion: This study provides valuable information for managers as it proves the need to implement digital twins, which enable intelligent manufacturing, serve as the main technology supporting Industry 4.0, can reflect physical information in cyberspace and manipulate physical objects by studying and researching information models in manufacturing. Therefore, future research should focus on developing reliable mechanisms for applying digital twins in the context of the SDGs in areas such as the economy, social aspects and the biosphere. This will ensure the competitiveness of the industrial sector and the country.