National hub for digital twins in civil engineering

Cities are highly complex systems and the amount of information needed to make informed sustainable decisions is almost endless. For decision-makers as well as planners, project managers, investigators and other actors in the urban planning process and building industry, it is today a challenge to access all the information and data available about our cities. To take advantage of all the data collected from everything from stormwater studies to design procedures, we need to make it accessible and convert the information into knowledge. A technology and method that is emerging both in the public sector and the commercial market is creating a digital twin by combining existing 3D maps with data and dialogue tools.

Digitalization is a major enabler for the urban planning of the future and sustainable growth. Both the existing built environment and the one that will grow in the coming years need to change to align with climate targets and the development goals set within the Agenda 2030. The concept of the digital twin has the potential to be the next step in the digitalized society and to be the link in the so-called uninterrupted flow of information.

In 2022, the report "C ontinued Investigation of the Digital Twin Project in the C onstruction Industry" was produced by Smart Built Environment under the leadership of Andreas Ask. The report was based on two strategic projects previously carried out by SBE, "Digital Supply C hain" and "Pre-study of Digital Twins in the Construction Industry". These projects resulted in a clear description of the current state and proposals for continued work in the area of digital twins. In both cases, a need for increased coordination of different initiatives and improved access to data and common standards was identified to fully take advantage of the potential of digital twins.

The purpose of the 2022 report was to examine the conditions for one or more organizations to drive the industry's common issues within the area of digital twins in a sustainable manner through a national coordination hub. The result was based on several qualitative interviews and pointed to RISE as the actor with the greatest potential to initiate and assume such a task. The report therefore recommended that RISE immediately begin preparatory work with a focus on the organization and financing of the hub for a formal start in 2023.

RISE mobilized internally in the fall of 2022 to build an organization for a formal start of a national hub for digital twins in 2023, together with cooperating actors and stakeholders.

The main drivers of the hub will be:

• Creating and managing an information framework for digital twins in the Swedish construction industry
• Driving internationalization in the area
• Building networks and promoting cooperation between actors to homogenize the landscape for digital twins in Sweden
• Contributing to technical, economic, social and sustainable development with digital twins as a tool