About Us

Cities across Europe are using DUET to create their own digital twins for systemic policy impact exploration and experimentation based on Policy Ready Data as a Service (PRDaaS) in a virtual environment. DUET is developed and tested in three different cities and regions across Europe: Flanders (Belgium), Pilsen (Czechia) and Athens (Greece). These pilots start from different positions on the digital twin journey. Flanders started from its spatial data infrastructure and early Digital Twin prototyping. Pilsen has a wide range of datasets, GIS and traffic modelling tools but not from an integrated solution. Athens is in the early stages of its Digital Transformation Roadmap and is starting from scratch. However, what unites the three is a conviction that digital twin technology is key to effective, future-proof policy making. By the end of the project in November 2022, each pilot receives a solution commensurate with their city’s digital maturity, smart city strategy, political buy-in and budget.

 

As results from the original pilot network begin to spread, new cities with similar needs, challenges and data literacy will start to eye DUET as a potential solution. This is because DUET is not just about making trendy 3D maps. It is not about digital objects that cities can use as window dressing to impress the public, foreign investors or smart city researchers. DUET is not meant as a mere box-ticking exercise so that cities can raise their score in some international ranking. DUET is, above all, a purpose-oriented initiative. Whether the goal is to empower citizens, improve foresight and scenarios simulation capability, strengthen coordination during emergency, optimise business performance, reduce traffic or carbon footprint, DUET provides a cost effective solution that cities can adapt to their context with minimal development effort.

 

DUET enables decision makers from multiple sectors to co-create innovative solutions to complex urban challenges by drilling down into data through a shared, easy-to-use interface. Although DUET’s solution is designed primarily for cities and public administrations, there is no reason why the application can’t be used by other industries. The underlying architecture is built with interoperability in mind. As such, DUET technology can support decision making at a sports event, on a factory floor, in a port’s control room. Users can upload any model so long as it complies with the framework requirements, after which they will be able to run simulations, analyse data, visualise insights, and much more.

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Built to handle large datasets, both historic and real-time, the solution enables interrogation of anomalies and deviations before a disaster strikes. Thanks to the IoT connection, investigations can be done remotely from any place within a city and beyond; all that is needed is access to the DUET dashboard. Other benefits come from embedded ML and AI functions, which allow the system to make predictions concerning e.g. depreciation of road infrastructure or environmental footprint. We start by testing DUET in the smart city environment, with local administrations as main users. However, a fully developed solution has no restrictions when it comes to potential adopters. City halls, companies (big and small), universities, emergency services all are using DUET because it is cheaper, more advanced and user-friendly than competitor solutions. Thanks to DUET, organisations are more responsive, reacting rapidly to real-time events; policy decisions are faster and more effective, and relationships with citizens are improved.