Digitalization is heralding a new exciting time for the rail industry with new technology developments providing infrastructure owners and operators the opportunity to cost effectively monitor and collect data on the real state of their networks and train operations to drive improvements in real time. The industry is changing phenomenally across the board through advances in digital twin and predictive maintenance technologies which in many cases are a quantum leap forward in respect to the previous generation of technologies. Success in this challenging environment requires business processes to be aligned including operations, procurement, maintenance and information services to customers, all of which need to be overhauled to bring up to speed with new engineering standards, operational goals and evolving customer expectations
 
As the digital representation of the physical asset is increasingly growing in the rail environment with more and more business processes related to information technology from logistics, supply chain management and condition monitoring applications, infrastructure owner and train operators are implementing digital transformation to improve the total cost of ownership, advance whole life cycle cost modelling and asset lifecycle management in rail operations.
​
Despite the current economic challenges and the need for rail companies to rebalance their books, Political initiatives, particularly climate change targets to decarbonise the overall transport industry, will drive a modal shift to rail, benefitting demand and providing increased supplier opportunities. Metis conferences is devoted to supporting and engaging with the global rail community during this transition to a digital railway