Assessing the readiness to adopt the digital twin enabled facilities management to revamp the building operation and maintenance in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The Facilities Management (FM) industry is undergoing a transformation with the adoption of IT technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and Building Information Modelling (BIM), leading to the innovative concept of Digital Twin (DT), which is known as a dynamic virtual copy of a physical asset, process, system or environment that behaves identically to its realworld counterpart. The FM industry has seen a revolution due to DT enabled FM (DT-FM), shifting the focus from basic monitoring to advanced prediction and simulation of conditions, transforming FM activities into proactive, data-driven strategies. However, Sri Lanka has not practically adopted the DT concept for FM, even though it has numerous modern buildings with complex maintenance processes. This research was designed to assess the readiness for adopting the DT-FM for operations and maintenance (O&M) of facilities. A leading 43 modern buildings of more than 75,000 sq.ft floor area in Colombo metropolis were randomly selected for data collection. The study employed a mixed method approach, starting with qualitative data collection and analysis using expert interviews, and further followed by a quantitative phase involving a questionnaire survey. Research findings indicate that 58% of FM organisations are aware of DT-FM concept. However, willingness and readiness for adopting DTFM are at a lower level, and this gives a strong message for facility managers to rethink how to bridge the gaps for the successful implementation of DT-FM.