Victoria takes covers off digital twin

Victoria’s $37.4 million digital twin investment has borne fruit, with the statewide model going live this week.

The Digital Twin Victoria Platform was launched after the CSIRO and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning completed the first phase of development.

Using CSIRO Data61’s TerriaJS library, the platform includes tools to measure objects, explore places as a virtual pedestrian, view changes like tree shadows through the day, save data, share views, and compare datasets.

As well as the DTV platform, the digital twin program includes advanced earth observation, a utilities module, automated approvals, subdivision registration, enhanced disaster response, and a digital twin for asset management.

The state first took an interest in digital twin technology in 2019 as part of its 30-year Fishermans Bend urban renewal project.

That technology formed the basis of the enlarged project, first announced in Victoria’s state budget in 2021.

Other highlights of the DTV platform include:

• Detailed 3D models of Melbourne and regional locations like the Great Ocean Road and 12 Apostles, hosted by Terria; 
• A live data state-wide feed for energy production including renewable energy;
• Bass Strait seals sensor data showing patterns of movement.

In a LinkedIn post, DELWP said the digital twin “already contains 4000 datasets”.

Also at LinkedIn, DELWP’s director digital twin Carys Evans wrote: “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.”

Other states are pursuing the same aim.

After a 2020 proof-of-concept debuted in 2020, NSW made the decision to extend the Western Parklands digital twin statewide, and in December 2021, devoted $40 million to the project.

NSW also uses the Data61 technology.

After a prototype was launched last year, Queensland said in February 2022 it would build a digital twin covering the Sunshine Coast, Brisband, and the Gold Coast, with KPMG to build the business case.

Queensland’s current digital twin focuses on spatial data.