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Peer Learning Policy Brief | How-To Guide for Implementing Local Digital Twins

New Policy Brief: Guide for Implementing Local Digital Twin

Published on: 25/06/2025 News
How-To Guide for Implementing Local Digital Twins

The Interoperable Europe Academy has just released a new peer-learning policy brief: “Implementing Local Digital Twins: A How-To Guide”. This document provides practical, step-by-step guidance for city officials, digital leads, and urban planners in medium to advanced digital cities aiming to unlock the full potential of Local Digital Twins.

What are Local Digital Twins?
Local Digital Twins are virtual representations of a city's physical assets, systems, and processes. They enable real-time monitoring, simulation, and optimisation, allowing cities to make data-driven decisions, test scenarios, enhance cross-departmental collaboration, and engage citizens through visual and interactive tools.

Key highlights from the brief
Pre-conditions for success: a clear digital strategy, reliable urban data, data governance, a centralised Local Digital Platform, and strong political buy-in

  • Implementation steps:
    • Define a strategic urban use case
    • Organise and standardise your data
    • Select modular, reusable tools
    • Build and visualise the Local Digital Twins
    • Monitor, improve, and scale

Overcoming challenges
From siloed departments and limited budgets to technical gaps and low citizen engagement, the brief provides actionable solutions - such as starting small, leveraging open-source tools, and using visualisations to engage stakeholders.

🔗 Read the full brief on the Interoperable Europe portal
👉 To get involved, experts can reach out via email: iop-academy@ec.europa.eu
Explore all the published briefs on the Peer-Learning Policy Briefs page

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