Abstract
This study examines how data is recombined during the creation of a digital twin - viewed here as an instance of digital innovation - along with the challenges that arise and the mechanisms that enable this process. Through an in-depth qualitative case study of the Varna Port Digital Twin, a pilot in the European ILIAD project, we show that digital innovation emerged recursively, through a four-phased process. Furthermore, our findings point to three main challenges innate to this process: semantic interoperability, which was solved with a common data model and harmonization tools; data availability that was eased by reusing alternative sources and creating new data via in-situ sensors, synthetic generation and citizen science; data reliability and resilience, solved through diversification mechanisms.