Abstract The concept of digital twin has evolved over the years, from a product-oriented approach to an asset-oriented one. However, this shift in scope has also brought challenges and confusion for owners and stakeholders, who may have different expectations and requirements for a digital representation of their physical assets. In this paper, we propose the term 'digital avatar' to describe a digital asset that enhances the capabilities of a real asset, rather than replicating it. The ‘Digital Avatar’ can be seen as a digital extension of the asset, providing additional capabilities and insights that cannot be available in the physical realm. Based on our experience and ongoing digital products, we constructed a framework to summarize the foundational technologies and concepts behind implementing a ‘digital avatar’ for an Oil and Gas production facility. These technologies have been categorized according to their purpose and laid out on an implementation timeline for greenfield projects. The main products we used as reference to build the Framework are also briefly presented to illustrate how this framework can support design, asset lifecycle management and performance optimization. This framework can help owners and stakeholders to align their objectives and priorities for developing and implementing digital avatars, as well as to evaluate their benefits and limitations.