FROM AN INSIDE-IN TOWARDS AN OUTSIDE-OUT URBAN DIGITAL TWIN: BUSINESS MODELS AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES

• Main Authors: R. D’Hauwers, N. Walravens, P. Ballon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2021-09-01
• Series: ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
• Online Access: https://www.isprs-ann-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/VIII-4-W1-2021/25/2021/isprs-annals-VIII-4-W1-2021-25-2021.pdf
• ISSN: 2194-9042; 2194-9050

Urban Digital Twins are a virtual representation of a city environment with bi-directional communication links. They require collaborations between different actors in the urban ecosystems in order to provide a complete picture of the situation in the city. In order to define the complex relationships between the different actors in the Urban Digital Twin ecosystem, the business model literature helps to answer questions on how value can be created, and how the value network can be controlled. In this paper, we identified four different types of business models for Urban Digital Twins based on whether they are used by the government or the ecosystem, and whether the government or the ecosystem controls the value network of the Urban Digital Twin. Interviews were held in five different existing Urban Digital Twins to identify which challenges the different existing digital twins have when implementing the Urban Digital Twins. The outcomes of the business model scenarios support the design of Urban Digital Twins 1) by identifying which decisions need to be made by cities when developing Urban Digital Twins and 2) by proposing cloud requirements for technology providers supporting cities, in the development of Urban Digital Twins.