Around the globe, from Boston to Barcelona, cities are turning to digital twins to help them meet their challenges head-on and embrace opportunities for growth.
The Digital Twin provides the interface with which local government authorities, the public, and commercial investors can interact with the data drawn from key city services through a single lens
Establishing a city-scale Digital Twin requires a broad combination of governance, policy, data management processes, user skills and technology.
Next month, PCSG Australia will bring together representatives from three cities – Hobart, Darwin and Melbourne - to discuss what Digital Twin means to each city.
In a virtual session at the Smart Cities Council Digital Twin Week, we’ll hear about what value each of these cities have identified in a twin, what purpose it will serve for them – and what it means for their citizens.
The Digital Twin for Cities event, on 21st October, will also feature a Q and A session with the three.
Twins, technology and today’s challenges
Embracing new technologies, like digital twins, is regarded by many policymakers and urban planners globally as critical, to meet the challenges presented by our urban spaces.
These challenges include fast-growing populations, ageing infrastructure and pressures around climate change and the drive for net zero.
With a culture of data leadership and valuing data as an asset, a Digital Twin journey can help to determine and communicate the performance of places, landscapes, assets and systems.
PCSG has cemented its reputation as one of the leading companies in shaping the Digital Twin narrative within the ANZ region. Our work has included development of Digital Twin strategies and business cases for Digital Twin Victoria and the Greater Hobart Digital Twin.
Last year, we wrote the Smart Cities Council Digital Twin Guidance Note.
The note provides a clear introduction to digital twins, their purpose and their benefits. It outlines their five key functions, explains their application at the different life-cycle stages and details their important role in enabling Governments to optimise capital investment, reduce whole life costs and ensure service delivery which is aligned to the needs and expectations of users.
The Council’s mission is this — to catalyse a thriving Digital Twin marketplace in the region so we can activate data and create value for decision makers in the natural and built environments
Our Consulting Director, Gavin Cotterill, is the co-chair of the Council’s Digital Twin Task group that has been developing the Digital Twins for all – The Australia | New Zealand Digital Twin Blueprint.
Digital Twin Challenge
PCSG Australia is also playing a key role in the recently announced Smart Cities Council Digital Twin Challenge. This challenge will see participating groups advance a series of 13 projects with the aim of demonstrating the potential of the concept.
With an emphasis on collaboration and knowledge sharing, the projects range from strategy, data framework and project-level action plans, to landscape-based Digital Twins, GIS and IoT capability templates, as well as urban planning and design use cases.
Gavin explains: “The Digital Twin Challenge is the only program of its type globally that is seeking to build a series of assets in a collaborative learning environment that will be shared openly for free for government and industry around the world to benefit from.”
If you would like to learn more on how we are helping cities, governments and asset owners and operators with their Digital Twin programs please contact Gavin Cotterill