Science fiction writers have had no end of fun imagining alternative realities and parallel worlds. Today, we are building them in digital form.
With the number of connected devices forecast to grow to 42bn by 2025, according to research group IDC, we are rapidly entering the era of “hyper-data”. Each of those devices emits a constant stream of data, enabling us to build a digital cloud that will metaphorically encircle our planet. We can, to use the jargon, create “digital twins” of the real world.
Last week in New York, Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, described the benefits of those digital twins, which he labelled one of the biggest trends in technology. Referencing Robert Gordon, the economic historian who has highlighted the stalling of innovation, Mr Nadella acknowledged that many economies were experiencing sluggish productivity growth. But Mr Nadella argued that increasingly sophisticated digital representations of the real world, enhanced by mass computing power and machine learning, would optimise information flows and catalyse economic growth.