Beyond Copies. Digital Twins as Information Artefacts

Digital Twins (DTs) are often described as virtual replicas or copies of physical systems. However, we 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 paper, we offer a foundational account of DTs based on dolce, arguing that these technologies embed intentional representations at their core. We then qualify DTs as information artefacts shaped by stakeholders’ goals and manifesting qualities, which we 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.