The Record - Issue 18: Autumn 2020

163 project information, you get a top-down and bottom-up approach to planning. Improve decisions and operations – With this digital twin environment, you can integrate additional information from spatial databases, workforce management system open data servers or 3D mapping solutions. Additionally, review your engineering design models in con- text of the city. Connect other key municipal information to your model to allow data-driven decisions in your city planning and operations. The digital twin provides a great environment for dashboards and project portals, as well as viewing of sensors in a mapping environment. Address the challenges of the new normal – You can consider the necessary changes for social distancing and the resulting effect on crowd movement. Many analysis results can be visualised against the campus- or city-scale model. By optimising space, it’s possible to sim- ulate and analyse foot traffic on/in infrastructure assets, including rail and metro stations, stadi- ums, shopping malls and airports. By accurately testing designs on both operational and com- mercial plans, developers can enhance footfall, wayfinding, crowd management and safety and security in support of a city’s goals helping to improve liveability and walkability. Make infrastructure resilient – Extreme hydrometeorological events, with rapid urbanisation and inadequate draining substruc- tures, trigger flooding and cause major damage to infrastructure, impact human safety and weaken the economy. You can deliver accurate and reliable risk and analysis data to outside agencies. Resilience teams can make the best decisions using actionable insights to anticipate early warnings, as well as promote response to increase public safety and decrease infrastruc- ture damage while minimising service inter- ruption, avoiding additional mitigation cost and improving response times. Also, utilities can use scenario information to define mitigation strat- egies, including cost/benefit analyses of changes to utility systems. Start small. Start with the data you have now. Find an area of the city, maybe even a block, where you have data available to create a digital twin. Prove the value on this use-case and then scale. Add additional use cases and priorities that are most important to your city. Then, get ready for a top-down and bottom-up approach for decision support and engagement with your stakeholders. Start today! Teresa Elliott is senior director of industry marketing at Bentley Systems Start your digital twin city at bentley.com/en/ campaigns/digital-cities/opencities-planner  PUB L I C S E C TOR In partnership with Forum Virium, Helsinki created a digital twin to share as open data for simulations, visualisation and engagement Photo: City of Helsinki