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A Digital Twin (DT) is a digital replica of an artefact which is updated on real-time or semi–real-time basis. In 2017, Gartner listed DT as one of the top 10 emerging technologies of the year. Since then, there have been numerous attempts to develop architecture and reference models for DTs, and in some studies, DT construction for real-world case studies is reported. This chapter attempts to provide a contextualised background on DT for smart cities. It also discusses various stakeholders involved in devising and/or employing DTs in a smart city. The chapter concludes with a set of recommendations for the training requirements of final DT users.

Digital transformation is essential for the development of the construction sector with the opportunities it offers to change and optimise the construction business. Digitalisation affects every stage and process, the whole value chain. As for some other industries, as well as in the construction sector, it provides several advantages and benefits which include increased productivity; increased speed of construction and saving time in the implementation of construction projects, significantly higher quality of accompanying construction documentation, etc. At the same time, there are some challenges related to the lag of digital transformation in construction when compared to other sectors. Some of these challenges are in the presence of some specific technical challenges, different degrees of application of new information technology in smaller construction companies, and so on which are often in the role of subcontractors and other parties involved in construction implementation. Despite the challenges, digital transformation has no alternative given the future upward development of the construction sector as the industry drives towards sustainability.

With the advance of the Silk Road Initiative proposed by China, it has been a focus of China government to develop strategic emerging industries. The development of strategic emerging industries needs the support of competitive intelligence on many aspects such as strategical planning, policy making, industrial structure adjustment, and technology innovation. However, so far there are few studies toward the competitive intelligence systems for strategic emerging industries. In this article, we focus on a number of issues related to the competitive intelligence for strategic emerging industries in China. First, we conduct a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis on the situations of strategic emerging industries in China, based on which the necessity of building a competitive intelligence (CI) service system for strategic emerging industries is discussed. Next, the authors present a framework of a CI service system for strategic emerging industries in China. The principles, components, working process, and product forms are deeply described. The CI service system proposed in this article consists of a cooperation network platform, three layered organizations, and three systems, which integrates organizations, information, people, network, and service platforms into an ecosystem to offer competitive intelligence supports for government, industry, and enterprises. Finally, the authors discuss a case study of the proposed CI service system for the new energy automobile industry.