Nexus launches pioneering Digital Twin platform to accelerate responsible innovation

Nexus has unveiled the Nexus Digital Twin. This enables organisations to test, measure, and accelerate innovation in a safe, data-driven environment.

Digital twins evolve in real time, drawing on live data to reflect how complex systems perform and interact. This dynamic model allows innovators, decision-makers, and communities to forecast outcomes, optimise performance, and assess impact before changes are made in the real world.

Through the STRIDE (Societal and Technological Readiness Integration via Digital Evaluation) platform, Nexus members are offered a unique opportunity to blend technical and societal readiness assessment. By integrating Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) and Societal Readiness Levels (SRLs), the approach ensures every innovation is evaluated not only for feasibility and scalability, but also for ethical, environmental, and human impact.

Dennis Dokter, Smart Cities Lead at Nexus, explained: “The Nexus STRIDE Platform gives organisations a clearer, evidence-based view of how innovations perform in the real world. It’s a new way of combining insight, data and responsibility – supporting better decisions and more sustainable change.”

The Nexus team and its partners are already using digital twins to address significant challenges in health, infrastructure, and sustainability:

Collaborative projects use advanced modelling of energy, transport, and housing systems to help planners design safer, more sustainable urban environments. By integrating Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data, digital twins can show how improvements like better insulation reduce energy costs and health risks, supporting data‑driven decisions on retrofitting, zoning, and design.

Effective operation requires strong links between IT (Information Technology), OT (Operational Technology), and ET (Engineering Technology) systems. When combined with IoT (Internet of Things) devices, these systems enable precise, coordinated monitoring and management of building energy use to lower overall demand.

Nexus is leading a world-first Health Digital Twin in partnership with the Health Innovation Network Yorkshire & Humber, West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, and Kidney Research UK.

The project models the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and resource utilisation across populations to support earlier diagnosis, improved outcomes, and more informed NHS planning. Selected as one of eight global testbeds by the Digital Twin Consortium, it is positioning West Yorkshire as an international leader in healthtech innovation.

In collaboration with University of Leeds research teams, the platform is mapping complex food networks to improve sustainability, reduce waste and enhance health outcomes.

Digital twins are helping manufacturers optimise production, maintenance, and resource use, reducing downtime and accelerating product innovation.

The STRIDE platform and its integrated digital twin are available through a flexible licensing model, allowing public and private organisations to adopt the framework via a simple plug-in process. At its foundation is an ethically governed dataset framework that prioritises transparency, quality, and data security.

Despite their widescale potential, digital twin initiatives can begin as smaller pilot projects that expand gradually as their value and insights grow over time.

By bringing together data science, technology ethics, and collaboration across sectors, Nexus is strengthening the UK’s digital innovation landscape. The Nexus Digital Twin will underpin projects spanning health, infrastructure, climate resilience, and business innovation – supporting a future where data and decision-making work hand in hand for the public good.