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The domain of industrial biomanufacturing is enthusiastically embracing the concept of Digital Twin, owing to its promises of increased process efficiency and resource utilisation. However, Digital Twin in biomanufacturing is not yet clearly defined and this sector of the industry is falling behind the others in terms of its implementation. On the other hand, some of the benefits of Digital Twin seem to overlap with the more established practices of process control and optimization, and the term is vaguely used in different scenarios. In an attempt to clarify this issue, we investigate this overlap for the specific case of fermentation operation, a central step in many biomanufacturing processes. Based on this investigation, a framework built upon a five-step pathway starting from a basic steady-state process model is proposed to develop a fully-fledged Digital Twin. For demonstration purposes, the framework is applied to a bench-scale second-generation ethanol fermentation process as a case study. It is proposed that the success or failure of a fully-fledged Digital Twin implementation is determined by key factors that comprise the role of modelling, human operator actions, and other propositions of economic value.

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Mechanoluminescence (ML) is a phenomenon upon external mechanical stimuli and it has found diverse applications such as stress sensing, structure health diagnosis, 3‐D signature, energy harvesting etc because of its unique properties of in situ and real‐time response to the stimuli. However, ML of most of the state‐of‐art phosphors primarily appears within the spectral range from ultraviolet to visible, which does not lie in the biological transparent windows, and, therefore, limits its applications in biological field. Here, we report a strong near infrared (NIR) ML from orthorhombic Cmcm perovskite Sr3Sn2O7: Nd3+, which is peaked at ~ 900 nm and located exactly within the first optical transparent window of tissues. The ML apparates after gradual discharge of the traps deeper than 0.73 eV triggered by the external mechanical stimuli and subsequently excitation of Nd3+ to the state of 4F3/2. The rechargable ML presents well repeatable linearity to loaded force at least up to 5000 N, and it can penetrate tissues easily that are thick up to 30 mm such as pigskin and the ceramic disk of hydroxy apatite which is the main constituent of bone. These results demonstrate the potential application for in situ biomechanical sensor. Meanwhile, by recording and processing these ML signals during signing on a pellet sample, for the first time, we provide a novel signature system based on NIR ML. This could raise the security level of existed signature anti‐countering to a higher level.