Hexagon’s urban digital twin platform
Transform your data into decisive action
Improve your residents’ quality of life
An urban digital twin is more than a 3D model or buzzword; it integrates mature technologies to offer unprecedented insights and actionable information.
A true urban digital twin is composed of three layers: the digital city, the connected city and the intelligent city.
- Digital city: Provides the foundation by creating a virtual model of the physical city
- Connected city: Enables real-time monitoring and control through interconnected devices
- Intelligent city: Centralizes data from the digital and connected cities, facilitating analytics, AI and simulations
Successful cities partner with a trusted provider like Hexagon to replicate the physical city digitally, integrate real-time data and perform intelligence and simulations, supporting any stage of a city's digital transformation journey.
- Discover how organizations are measuring the return on investment from digital twins and reporting financial gains
- Uncover the surprising gaps between executives' expectations of digital twins and the reality of what the technology delivers
- Explore the role of digital twins in driving a greener business, especially when it comes to reducing carbon emissions
- Separate the hype from reality to make informed decisions about adopting and integrating digital twin technology
- See how governments stand on the Digital Twin Value-Maturity Matrix and identify opportunities for growth in digital twin adoption
Getting started with an urban digital twin
An urban digital twin is more than a 3D model. It integrates mature technologies to offer unprecedented insights and actionable information and can help your city reach its sustainability goals. But how do you get started? And what does it take to be successful? Below are some frequently asked questions, with answers from Hexagon experts.
1. What is an urban digital twin, and how can it benefit local government operations?
An urban digital twin is a dynamic digital replica of a city, integrating advanced technologies to provide actionable insights. It goes beyond a simple 3D model leveraging data to monitor and analyze city operations like infrastructure and traffic. It enables informed decision-making, improved efficiency and enhanced public safety. It also fosters collaboration among city departments by providing a unified platform for data sharing and communication.
2. What are the initial steps required to implement an urban digital twin in our municipality?
Start by identifying the specific use cases where an urban digital twin can add value, such as traffic management or infrastructure monitoring. Next, gather and organize the necessary data, including geographic information, sensor inputs, simulations and existing city records. Choose a platform or partner, like Hexagon, that can integrate these data sources into a cohesive urban digital twin.
3. How can an urban digital twin improve resident engagement and service delivery?
Urban planning can be presented virtually, enabling informed feedback. This transparency allows residents to actively participate in city development. Real-time data and predictive insights improve service delivery, coordinating departments and minimizing disruptions. Ultimately, visual, data-driven communication builds trust and leads to more engaged citizens.
4. How does an urban digital twin support sustainability and environmental management in cities?
An urban digital twin allows a city to simulate scenarios like greening spaces to reduce temperatures and improve air quality, optimizing building layouts to maximize ventilation and detecting and addressing heat islands to enhance livability. It can also identify flood risks so proactive measures can be taken. These insights help cities make strategic decisions for a healthier, more sustainable environment.
5. What are the cost considerations for developing a urban digital twin?
Costs involve technology infrastructure, data acquisition and maintenance. Automated data handling is critical for an up-to-date data foundation, making sustainable urban digital twin operations possible. Investing in expert guidance helps identify valuable data sources, ensure integration and implement automation strategies. A proof of concept based on existing data can demonstrate benefits and refine your approach. Strategic planning and expert insights, focused on data automation, help cities optimize costs and fully realize the potential of urban digital twins.
Hexagon’s world-leading digital reality solutions enable exact replicas of the physical world — city streets, power grids and buildings — as well as digitalized workflows, like emergency service dispatch or real time traffic conditions. This Smart Digital Reality becomes the basis for quick, well-informed decisions and well-coordinated response.
Reality capture
Digitization of infrastructure, planning and resources lays the foundation for a smart city. The Leica CityMapper-2 is a hybrid oblique imaging and LiDAR airborne sensor that creates accurate 3D models and meshes. The Leica Pegasus TRK portfolio is a powerful, easy-to-use mobile mapping system for large-scale infrastructure measurement and digital twin creation.
Data quality check
Ensure your project's geospatial data meets quality requirements by implementing automated quality control processes. Spatial Modeler enables you to validate and identify geospatial data through reusable algorithms and workflows, all within a user-friendly GUI. By automating geospatial workflows, you can efficiently process and analyze geographic data.
Purchase data
The HxGN Content Program offers an expansive library of high-resolution aerial imagery, elevation data, 3D models and analytics across North America and western Europe. The program’s large-area coverage, captured using best-in-class airborne sensor technology, enables deep insights to understand the real world and address today’s most challenging problems.
Cloud data storage
HxDR is a cloud-native platform for geospatial data at any scale. It powers digital reality applications with storage, visualization and collaboration tools and automated microservices for data processing. It also features a custom API for companies to tailor their own software to use HxDR functionalities and a web developer kit to make that process even simpler.
Hexagon enhances smart city solutions by connecting all relevant stakeholders to the right information. By breaking down barriers between departments, organizations, cities and nations, Hexagon provides access to real-time dynamic data that is contextualized and analyzed. This enables events to be seen, reported, interpreted and predicted rapidly and accurately.
Hexagon's innovative approach establishes connectivity between various sources, such as geographic data, IoT sensors and enterprise asset management (EAM) systems. This connectivity results in greater operational intelligence, leading to more sustainable and accountable services.
Stream real-time data
Optimally connect to and serve dynamic data by using advanced capabilities to pre-render, convert or relay data streams. This includes the ability to translate and forward data streams in any format, such as the web-friendly GeoJSON. Additionally, perform analytics on real-time data to gain valuable insights and enhance decision-making.
Single source of truth
Break down data silos by centralizing geospatial information and working with a unified dataset, simplifying access and analysis. Save time and resources, while significantly improving collaboration. Easily updated, your data remains current, ensuring everyone is working with the most accurate information.
IoT platform
Connect diverse sensors and protocols to readily transmit valuable information. Seamlessly ingest the continuous stream of data, transforming it into actionable insights within a rich geospatial context. Extract the intelligence you need, when and where you need it. Visualize trends, analyze patterns and gain a deeper understanding of your assets and environment.
Collaboration platform
Enhance collaboration between departments, streamline communication and improve efficiency. Easily access and manage data, track progress and collaborate on projects in real time. Adapt to the unique needs of each department, facilitating seamless cooperation and enabling more effective decision-making.
Our GeoAI technology leads in intelligent urban analysis by automatically classifying aerial and street-level data to detect buildings, solar panels, street signs and more, providing a detailed view of urban landscapes. Separately, climate change impacts cities with rising temperatures and extreme weather, making local urban climate analyses essential. Hexagon offers governments user-friendly, robust simulation tools, including a data-as-a-service (DaaS) offering, to conduct sophisticated (micro)climate forecasts independently. Governments define scenarios, and we deliver iterative solutions, helping identify vulnerable areas, determine necessary measures and protect residents' quality of life.
GeoAI
Street level
Our GeoAI technology features automated feature modeling, which excels in classifying street-level assets. This enables municipalities and organizations to leverage precise data for various use cases, including asset management and maintenance. By providing detailed insights into urban infrastructure, our technology supports the optimization of traffic sign placement and enhances overall city planning and operations, leading to more efficient and well-maintained urban environments.
Aerial
Our GeoAI technology uses advanced aerial data analysis to automatically classify land cover, offering detailed insights into urban and natural environments. By efficiently identifying features such as vegetation, water bodies and built structures, GeoAI supports informed decision-making for urban planning, environmental monitoring and resource management. This empowers municipalities and organizations to enhance land use strategies and optimize development projects with unparalleled precision.
Simulations
Detect heat islands (DaaS)
Urban heat islands are areas within cities that experience significantly higher temperatures due to human activities and infrastructure. Our advanced simulation tools help governments identify these hotspots by analyzing local climate data and predicting temperature variations. By pinpointing heat islands, planners can implement effective measures to mitigate their impacts, e.g., increase green spaces and tree coverage to provide shade and improve air quality.
Analyze the impact on the wind flow (DaaS)
Our simulation tools allow planners to accurately model wind flow patterns for insights into the impacts of constructing/demolishing buildings. They can avoid creating undesirable wind tunnels, which can lead to uncomfortable and potentially hazardous street-level conditions for pedestrians or aggravate pollution by concentrating air pollutants in certain areas. Planners can optimize building layouts to enhance natural ventilation, improve air quality and ensure a more pleasant urban environment.
Learn more on how to do a wind flow analysis for your municipality
Map flood-prone areas (partner solution)
Municipalities can use advanced simulation tools to model various rain scenarios and predict flooding patterns within urban areas. By identifying which parts of a city are most vulnerable to flooding, planners can design and implement effective flood defenses and drainage systems. This proactive approach helps protect infrastructure, minimize property damage and ensure safety during extreme weather events. (Pictured: Partner IMAGEM’s flood simulation tool for the municipality of Almere)
Discover solar energy potential
Our advanced simulation tools can assess solar panel potential with remarkable accuracy. They leverage 3D capabilities to simulate the optimal positioning of solar panels, considering their orientation and any obstructions that may block sunlight, such as buildings or trees. This helps identify the most effective locations, maximizing energy capture and supporting sustainable energy initiatives. Planners can make informed decisions to reduce a city’s carbon footprint.
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