Event Details

Professor Nav Mustafee, Centre for Simulation, Modelling and Analytics, University of Exeter Business School will present a seminar to the Management Science Department

Abstract: Real-time Simulation (RtS) and Digital Twins (DT) are terms generally associated with computational models that use real-time data. There is an increasing volume of literature on RtS and DT; however, the field of OR/MS is yet to coalesce on accepted definitions and conceptualisations. This has arguably led to the cascading usage of these terms.

The objective of this talk is threefold: (1) distinguish between RtS and DT through a conceptualisation in four dimensions, (2) discuss methodological and technical challenges in developing RtS with limited real-time data, and (3) present a case study on RtS for an Urgent Care Network, and which uses real-time data from a network of A&E departments and Minor Injury Units in the South West of England (through the NHSquicker platform).

The talk concludes by arguing that the evolution of conventional simulation models to fully-fledged DTs in healthcare may necessitate focusing on a transitional stage of model development, namely, RtS - the models that are primarily driven using historical distributions with limited real-time data feeds.