On April 29, we hosted the 5th SCOR online seminar, featuring Dr. Roberta Ferrario as our guest speaker. She delivered an engaging presentation on the ontology of digital twins — a topic of growing importance in industrial innovation and digital transformation — within the context of the SMARTEST project, in which she is currently involved. Her foundational analysis shed light on the complex ontological nature of digital twins, moving beyond the view of them as mere simulation-based copies of reality.
The abstract, recording, and updated slides from her talk are available below. To stay informed about upcoming SCOR online seminars and other related events, you can subscribe to our newsletter (via the form at the bottom of the homepage) and/or follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/swissonto/.
Roberta Ferrario (ISTC-CNR, LOA)
“Beyond Copies: Digital Twins as Information Artefacts”
Abstract
Digital Twins (DTs) are often described as virtual replicas or copies of physical systems. However, I argue that this view not only obscures key aspects of what DTs actually do but also fails to capture their underlying ontological rationale. In this talk, I offer a foundational account of DTs based on DOLCE, arguing that these technologies embed intentional representations at their core. I then qualify DTs as information artefacts shaped by stakeholders’ goals and manifesting qualities, which I call ‘differential qualities’, that have causal relevance. These are essential for accomplishing tasks typically performed by DTs in engineering, such as diagnostics, optimisation, and simulation.
Short bio
Roberta Ferrario is a senior researcher at the Institute for Cognitive Sciences and Technologies of the CNR, the Italian National Research Council, and she works in Trento. Lately, her research interests have been on ontology of socio-technical systems, on hybrid and trustworthy AI and on ontologies for digital humanities and cultural heritage. She was Co-Editor-in-chief of the International journal Applied Ontology (IOS Press) from 2017 to 2022; she has been General Chair of the 11th and 12th International Conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems (FOIS 2020 and 2021), PC Co-chair FOIS 2016 and co-founder of series of workshops like SWODCH (Semantic Web and Ontology Design for Cultural Heritage), WODHSA (Workshop on Ontologies for Digital Humanities and their Social Analysis), CONTACT (Computer vision + ONTologies: Applied Cross-disciplinary Techniques) and FOMI (Formal Ontology Meets Industry). She is an author of a monograph and more than 150 scientific articles and book chapters on social ontology, ontology of services, ontology of mental entities, philosophy of language, digital humanities.