The banks of the world are trusted custodians of massive amounts of important data. Such data is currently held in warehouses, databases, and spreadsheets. Although some analytics are usefully deployed against the data, information about location is rarely used and the organization of the data does not allow a structure conducive to powerful analytics. Much of the “connection intelligence” between the various data elements is simply not present since it is held in the queries.

 

Along with the AI revolution, there is a less understood, but equally powerful, technology stack referred to as Digital Twins. Relationships between financial transactions and the physical world, including climate change insights, can be built into Digital Twins to enable far more powerful analytics. Digital Twins have opened a new and exciting path to understand systems previously beyond our comprehension. Financial entities around the world can include financial and financial-related data in the Digital Twins stack that until now was mostly built up to represent physical elements.

 

We challenge financially enabled Digital Twins with competency questions. Some of these are drawn from climate change and agriculture viewpoints:

• If a retail bank changed the 5-year fixed mortgage rate, what effect would this have on climate change? Every decision a bank makes should be made in the context of climate change.

• Where can a bank make investments that are climate change sensitive - i.e., which investments are verified sustainable financing while still providing robust returns to the investors?

• What factors would be most effective during an advisor conversation in helping a prospective client sign with the bank?

• The supply chain for a business has been interrupted by a climate crisis – what alternative supply chain can we suggest to the business?

• What is the carbon sequestration capacity of a particular business (like a farm) and how can it be optimized and monetized?

• What does climate change cost (your organization here) per annum?

• How can carbon emissions be reduced while maintaining or improving the efficiency of growing food?

 

This thread is devoted to use cases, challenges, and futures in the financial domain as it considers the adoption path and influence that wholesale Digital Twins use with financial data may create.