Work, in mechanics, refers to the amount of energy required to change a system from a stationary state to an moving one. In simple terms, it is the time required to convert a system from a stationary state to one in motion. Work, in physics, refers to the measure of energy change that takes place when an internal force transfers an external force from an interior source to an exterior point of origin at least some of which is transferred in the same direction. If the velocity is unchanged, then work can also be calculated by multiplying the time of transfer of the external force by the component of this force acting on the system at the point of origin.
When the task to be performed is highly complex, it is often necessary to approximate the value of work and, as a result, there are two main methods for doing so, namely, redefining work and integration. The former involves taking the time average over all the activities that are needed to complete the task and integrates this average with the time taken to perform each activity. Integration on the other hand assumes that, given the values of variables A and B, the value of work H will be equal to the value of work T, where T is the time taken to travel to point A from point B. The main advantage of integration is that it takes into consideration the value of latent energy, but as many activities can only be performed one at a time, it may not be optimal.
Defining a value creation process that involves redefining work is vital because, as previously mentioned, human capabilities are dynamic and variable. One of the key factors that contribute to the definition of these capabilities is the rate at which these capabilities are developed during the course of human development. Therefore, redefining work is necessary when estimating the value of future work.
It may not be possible to redefine work once human capabilities have been established because these abilities are deeply rooted in the individual’s psyche. For instance, while it is likely that all of us will develop some amount of entrepreneurial skills as we grow older, there will be an element of self-fulfillment that comes with the work that we do. This means that we must be careful to not value this work too low simply because of the fact that it is a relatively “old” skill that does not contribute to our growth. If this is the case, it is important not to value the work too high because the value creation will, instead, be underestimated. The best way to do this is to evaluate the value creation in terms of future economic value rather than current monetary value.
However, it is likely that most of us will not be able to go back to our “early years”. As a result, the next step is to understand the concept of shared value and proxied existence. Shared value refers to the tasks that we can all agree upon, even if the value may not be directly measurable or obvious. This is much more valuable than being rich because everyone has the same basic resources.
Proxied existence, on the other hand, refers to the idea that some things are worth doing only in isolated circumstances where there is no immediate need for them. Digital twins are very similar to this concept in that humans do almost all of their routine tasks digitally. Therefore, it is not surprising that the majority of tasks that we perform are not deeply tied to any one area of human capabilities and are therefore not tied to specific abilities. In fact, there are probably times when all that is needed is some simple computing that does not require much memory, storage, bandwidth or power. These type of activities are called routine tasks and they are what a digital twin engineer does. In fact, one of the keys to being a successful digital twin is being skilled at routine tasks rather than highly specialized tasks.