📢 Call for Papers 📢

Special Issue on:
Digital Twins & Emerging Technologies for Industrial and CPS
-- From IoT to Decentralized Intelligence --

📜 Hosted on: Future Generation Computer Systems (FGCS)
🔗 More info at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/special-issue/328906/digital-twins-and-emerging-technologies-for-industrial-and-cyber-physical-systems-from-iot-to-decentralized-intelligence

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Dear colleague,

Submissions are open for the Special Issue of Future Generation Computer Systems (FGCS) entitled: "Digital Twins and Emerging Technologies for Industrial and Cyber-Physical Systems: From IoT to Decentralized Intelligence".
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The Special Issue aims to collect advanced research contributions on how Digital Twin, Industrial IoT, edge/fog computing and decentralized intelligence techniques (e.g. federated learning, blockchain, gossip-based learning) are transforming industrial and cyber-physical systems, enabling high-fidelity simulations, real-time monitoring and secure, data-driven decision making.
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We invite submissions of original works that address theoretical, methodological and applicative aspects, with particular attention to secure, robust and intelligent digital infrastructures, both in industrial contexts and in complex cyber-physical scenarios (urban mobility, city-scale infrastructures, smart energy) when the solutions are transferable or interoperable with industrial and mission-critical domains.
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Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- ​Architectures and frameworks for industrial and cyber-physical Digital Twins.
- ​Integration of IIoT, sensors and actuators into manufacturing, logistics and mobility systems.
- ​Blockchain e distributed ledger per workflow operativi trasparenti e tamper‑resistant in industrie abilitate da DT.
- ​Edge and fog computing for scalable, low-latency DT deployments.
- ​Federated, gossip-based and decentralized learning for privacy-preserving intelligence in DT scenarios.
- ​Cybersecurity, resilience and risk assessment in DT and IIoT infrastructures.
- ​Standards, interoperability and integration of heterogeneous digital ecosystems.
- ​Human-in-the-loop, explainable AI and operator-informed decision-making in DT.
- ​Empirical case studies in smart factories, supply chain, robotics, energy, industrial logistics, AGV/AMR, transport and urban infrastructure.
- ​DT for monitoring and protecting VRUs (including industrial workers) through real-time tracking, safety analytics and coordinated mobility in production environments.
- ​DT for energy communities and smart energy systems in urban-industrial contexts, with support for the integration of renewables and the energy optimization of industrial sites.
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They are welcome:
- original research articles,
- well-documented industrial case studies,
- survey or mapping study with adequate technical depth.
Purely conceptual or non-experimentally validated works do not fall within the scope of the Special Issue.

Submission details
- Journal: Future Generation Computer Systems (Elsevier).
- Format: double‑column FGCS, max 18 pages including references.
- Originality: original manuscripts, unpublished and not under review elsewhere; Conference papers with extension ≥ 40% are permitted.
- Submission system: FGCS Editorial Manager, selecting the article type “VSI: [Special Issue Code]”.
- Peer review: single-blind, at least three reviewers per article, with typical decisions (Accept, Minor/Major Revision, Reject).

Timeline (key deadlines)
- Submission deadline: 31 May 2026
- Final decision & acceptance: 30 November 2026
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Guest Editors
- Dr. Marcello Pietri (Executive Guest Editor), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy – marcello.pietri@unimore.it
- Dr. Matteo Martinelli, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy – matteo.martinelli@unimore.it
- Prof. Andreas Wortmann, University of Stuttgart, Germany – andreas.wortmann@isw.uni-stuttgart.de
- Prof. JaeSeung Song, Sejong University, South Korea – jssong@sejong.ac.kr

We warmly invite you to submit your work and spread this call to colleagues and research groups working on Digital Twins, IIoT, edge/fog computing, AI and cyber-physical systems.

For any questions about the relevance of the topic or the submission process, you can contact the Executive Guest Editor, Dr. Marcello Pietri (marcello.pietri@unimore.it).
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Kind regards,

Dr. Matteo Martinelli
for the Guest Editors of the FGCS Special Issue
"Digital Twins and Emerging Technologies for Industrial and Cyber-Physical Systems: From IoT to Decentralized Intelligence"