Published on the 17/08/2022 | Written by Heather Wright

Cities, states and countries in digital twin rush… 

Victoria has unveiled its AU$37.4 million digital twin, providing a digital replica of the state for data visualisation, investigation, trouble-shooting and planning.

The platform, the first stage of the $37 million project, was built using CSIRO Data61 TerriaJS open-source technology and brings together more than 4,000 data sets including 3D, 2D and live data visualisations.

“Urban digital twins offer many advantages in supporting and improving sustainability, circularity, decarbonisation and the overall quality of urban living”

“With vast applications for projects large and small across industries, the Digital Twin Victoria (DTV) platform gives government, industry and the community more power than ever to make better data-led decisions, deliver faster and more efficiently,” the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) says. 

“It will help leave behind manual, labour-intensive and paper-based ways of doing things, building the digital foundations and skills needed to support a liveable and sustainable Victoria.”

The browser-based offering is open to everyone.

Carys Evans, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning director Digital Twin Victoria, says on LinkedIn: “I’m really hopeful that the platform will help create a whole new community of digital twin users, discovering the power to plan, model, collaborate and share like never before – you don’t need to be a geospatial specialist.”

DELWP says the twin can be used to plan cities, track coastal erosion, review flooding events, monitor tree cover, track animal movements – it even comes preloaded with Bass Strait seal movement data – visualise precincts and check planning overlays. 

Users can also upload their own data sets.

“The DTV platform will also allow the planning and building industries to virtually manage a development precinct or project area. Using the platform tools, they can virtually model things like overshadowing and underground utilities, before shovel hits the ground.

“The platform will help to fast-track smarter cities and regions. Councils will be able to bring together data visualisations with 3D building models, vegetation records, population statistics and local sensor data, making it easier to plan and manage towns and cities.

“It provides easier access to environmental and historic data, allowing users to compare the past with the present, prepare for future events and track changes over time. This includes the opportunity to digitally traverse delicate habitats or remote locations you can’t get to on foot.”

The digital twin platform is just one part of Victoria’s digital twin program, which also includes advanced earth observation – which saw a $4 million LiDar survey across the state begin earlier this year – tools to streamline access to utility information, automated approvals, subdivision registration, enhanced disaster response, and a digital twin for asset management.

Victoria isn’t alone in its digital twin push, of course.

Queensland developed a proof of concept with Data61 last year and is now building out its digital twin and NSW is also in the process of building one. Wellington’s digital twin project saw it claim US$1 million in prize money early this year as part of the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge for ‘the boldest and most ambitious urban innovations that address current issues’.

Globally the twins, which have been dubbed stepping stones to the metaverse, are proliferating as cities, states and countries look to harness the technology for goals ranging from sustainability and optimising of planning through to providing virtual tours.

The digital twin market for manufacturing alone – where it can help boost efficiency and productivity among other things – is forecast to reach more than US$6 billion by 2025, according to Statista. That’s a more than tenfold increase on 2020’s US$0.59 billion.

Automotive, aviation, energy and utilities, healthcare, and logistics and retail are also quick movers, with automotive and aviation expected to crack $5 billion.

The technology is even hitting the farm, with the likes of Israel’s CropX offering agricultural digital twin capabilities. 

Singapore is among the most high profile, and most advanced, users of digital twins globally. Virtual Singapore includes more than 100 terabytes of data, including more than three million images captured at street level and 160,000 taken from the air, along with 3D data points. It’s already being harnessed for sustainability purposes, including projects to calculate solar energy potential and analysing how new buildings will affect wind flow and shadows in a country keen to reduce temperatures.

Shanghai, with its 26 million strong population and more than 3,750km2, also has a digital twin while Helsinki is regarded as one of the world’s longest-running digital twin programs, with 30 years traversing CAD, 3D mapping and more recently, full scale digital twins. Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York are also among the cities rushing to deploy twins, with ABI Research suggesting cities will save US$280 billion by 2030 by using the twins for more efficient urban planning. 

“Digital twins will become the ultimate tool for city governments to design, plan and manage their connected infrastructure and assets in an efficient and cost-effective way,” Dominique Bonte, vice president End Markets at ABI Research, says.

“Cost savings can be obtained in key areas, such as energy and utilities, transportation, safety and security, and infrastructure (roads/buildings). However, urban digital twins also offer many other advantages in terms of supporting and improving sustainability, circularity, decarbonisation and the overall quality of urban living,” he says.

But the development of digital twins for cities is still in the early phase, with the WEF noting there remain many challenges, including fragmented understanding, immature technology and unclear business models. There’s also the ongoing investment required – digital twins are a longer term commitment, requiring ongoing data.

But if you want to talk ambitious projects, the European Commission must lead the way. It has an ambitious Destination Earth (DestinE) project underway to create a digital twin of the entire planet to map climate development, though the ‘full’ replica isn’t expected until 2030.