The Economist - USA (2020-02-22)

TheEconomistFebruary 22nd 2020 3

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n armyofdoppelgangersisinvadingtheworld.Digitalcopies
ofaircraftengines,windturbinesandotherheavyequipment
camefirst.Nowtheelectronicghostsofsmallerandlargerthings
arejoiningtheminthevirtualrealm,fromtoothbrushesandtraf-
ficlightstoentireshopsandfactories.Evenhumanshavebegun
developing thesealteregos. InAmericatheNationalFootball
Leagueisplanningtodesignanelectronicavatarforeveryplayer.
These“digitaltwins”,asgeekstermthem,arefarmorethanrep-
licasoftheoriginal.Thinkofthemmoreasshadowsthatare,
thankstoa multitudeofsensorsandwirelessconnectivity,inti-
matelylinkedtotheirphysicalselves,andeverydayproducing
oceansofdata.If somethinghappensintherealworld,it israpidly
reflectedinthisshadowrealm.Somedigitaltwinsalreadycome
withthelawsofnatureprogrammedin.Theydoubleasa database
ofeverythingthathaseverhappenedtotheoriginal.Thismakesit
possibletolookintotheirfuture.Sportscoaches,forinstance,will
beabletorunsimulations,predictwhenanathletemightgetin-
juredandadjusttrainingroutinestoavoidproblems.
Digitaltwinsarejustonepartofa vastshiftintheworld’secon-
omy.TheypopulatewhatDavidGelernterofYaleUniversitylong
agoforecastas“mirrorworlds”:a newdimensionofhumanlife
basedonandfuelledbydata.Yearbyyear,evermorepartsofthe

physicalrealmarecomingtoberepresentedandsimulatedinthe

virtualworld—aninversionofPlato’stheorythatreal-worldob-

jectsarejustimperfectcopiesoftheirtruebeinginthespiritual

realm.Theemergenceofthesemirrorworldswillbringabouta

distincteconomy.Thisdevelopmentwillrequirenewmarkets,in-

stitutions,infrastructure,businesses andeven geopoliticalar-

rangements.Itisthepromisesandpitfallsofthenew“dataecon-

omy”whichwillbethefocusofthisspecialreport.

Mirrorworldsarenotmeremathematicalrepresentationsof

realones.Theyalsogivenewmeaningtotheadagethatknowledge

ispower.Increasingly,digitalcopiesaretakingonlivesoftheir

ownandactingonthephysicalworld.Theycanbeusedtoopti-

miseeverything,fromtheacousticsofa headsettoanentirena-

tionalrailwaynetwork.Theywillenableallsortsofartificial-intel-

ligence(ai) algorithmstorecogniseobjectsandfaces,understand

speechandevendistinguishsmells.Andtheymakepossiblenew

businessmodels:whybuyheavyequipmentifitswearandtear

canbemeasuredindetailandit canthusberentedbytheminute?

A goodplacetostartanalysinganyeconomyisbymeasuringit.

A robustmethodologyhasyettobedeveloped,butthedataecon-

omyisalreadylarge.StatisticsCanada,a governmentagency,last

yeartriedtoestimatethevalueofthecountry’sdata(itsstockplus

Mirror worlds

Special report

A deluge of data is giving rise to a new economy. Ludwig Siegele asks how it will work

The data economy

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