Author(s): Sergey Yevgenievich Barykin, Irina Vasilievna Kapustina, Sergey Mikhailovich Sergeev, Olga Vladimirovna Kalinina, Viktoriia Valerievna Vilken, Elena de la Poza, Yuri Yevgenievich Putikhin, Lydia Vitalievna Volkova
The concept of digitalization is based on the dominance of digital ecosystems and on the widespread introduction of artificial intelligence systems including the physical distribution within the trade networks. The implementation of internet of things and artificial intelligence as well as machine learning allows implementing the digital twins. From an economist's point of view, the digital twin does not make sense without a mathematical model. The study aims at the developing a physical distribution digital twin model being focused on its use in managing trade network activities in conjunction with information cyberspace. The research subject of this paper includes the methodology of the physical distribution formation within the trade network. So, the authors suggest the definition of the investigated physical distribution digital twin (economic) model as a software implementation of the algorithm for processing a set of physical distribution data arriving online and at each moment of time reflecting the activity of the considering trade network. During the research, methods of stochastic modelling and dynamic programming as well as mathematical methods of optimization were used. The results obtained can be incorporated into the algorithmic basis of digital platforms of the trading network ecosystem. The article examines the features of the physical distribution digital twin models from the economic point of view. Taking into account the proposed definition of the digital twin, the future scientific research can cover the development of scientific discussion on questions of optimization methods for the development of the physical distribution within the trade network.