Digital twins offer a new and exciting framework that has recently attracted significant interest in fields such as oncology, immunology, and cardiology. The basic idea of a digital twin is to combine simulation and learning to create a virtual model of a physical object. In this paper, we explore how the concept of digital twins can be generalized into a broader, overarching field. From a theoretical standpoint, this generalization is achieved by recognizing that the duality of a digital twin fundamentally connects complexity science with data science, leading to the emergence of complexity data science as a synthesis of the two. We examine the broader implications of this field, including its historical roots, challenges, and opportunities.
Keywords: complexity science; data science; digital twin; learning; simulation.
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of National Academy of Sciences.