In the face of escalating global climate challenges, Africa stands at the forefront as the most climate-exposed and least climate-resilient region in the world, with nine out of ten of the planet’s most vulnerable countries found on the continent according to the Climate Vulnerability Index 2022. The impacts of climate change are disproportionately affecting the poorest communities, particularly in low-income and fragile contexts, compounding existing vulnerabilities among women, children, and the elderly.
In the context of climate resilience and preparedness, emerging technologies play a pivotal role, offering innovative solutions to confront and adapt to the challenges posed by a changing climate. One such transformative concept is the development of a Digital Twin for various counties in Kenya, a technological approach that has been instrumental in enabling cities worldwide to be well-prepared for climate-related issues.
This blog post explores the potential of a digital twin framework within the CAW’s Adaptation Sub-window, aiming to enhance counties’ resilience to climate change and contribute to the broader mission of securing a sustainable and climate-resilient future for the county.
As counties navigates the complex intersection of urbanization and climate change, the imperative to embrace a smart city paradigm becomes increasingly evident. In response to this imperative, a Digital Twin for counties is the way forward—a pioneering concept designed to dynamically address the multifaceted challenges posed by the evolving urban landscape. This innovative platform can harness Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to not only elevate living standards but also to cultivate resilience in the face of climate-related issues.
At its core, the Digital Twin for counties functions as a responsive and comprehensive platform for monitoring and decision support within the urban environment. This will entail the strategic use of technological tools to collect and analyze a spectrum of data—from weather patterns and air quality measurements to noise pollution levels, energy usage, and other pertinent factors. The implementation of precise and up-to-date data analysis can empower municipal authorities to make informed decisions, effectively address emergencies, maximize infrastructure development, and improve public services.
In the agricultural realm, the Digital Twin becomes a transformative force, offering farmers real-time data insights for precision farming techniques. This facilitates optimized resource utilization, enhances crop yields, and contributes to bolstering food production and nutrition security. Simultaneously, the platform can aid in managing water resources effectively, optimizing distribution, and ensuring sanitation by designing and implementing efficient waste management strategies.
The Digital Twin also emerges as a powerful tool in climate resilience, providing real-time monitoring and analysis of climate data to generate accurate predictions and warnings for extreme weather events. This capability enables timely interventions to mitigate the impact of climate change, aligning with the broader goals of the African Development Fund’s Climate Action Window.
Transport and infrastructure planning can aslo receive a substantial boost from the Digital Twin, which optimizes urban planning, traffic management, and simulates the impact of climate change on infrastructure resilience.
In the transition to sustainable energy practices, the Digital Twin can assess energy consumption patterns, evaluates the potential for renewable energy sources, and supports the development of a resilient and green energy infrastructure. Simultaneously, the platform can facilitate green finance initiatives by identifying opportunities for sustainable investments, monitoring the environmental impact of various projects, and ensuring transparency in the use of green finance resources.
The proposed Digital Twin for Kenya’s counties is envisioned as a transformative force, actively engaging all stakeholders to develop a more intelligent, resilient, and sustainable urban environment. This innovative platform aligns with global smart city trends and positions the individual counties at the forefront of pioneering urban management practices, creating a blueprint for holistic development in the face of 21st-century challenges.
A digital twin is a digital representation of a physical object or process and the establishment of a connection between digital and physical realms to exchange data and information. It exists for real-time monitoring, diagnostics, and prediction, as well as optimizing its dynamic behaviour and keeping tabs on the health of its physical twin.
A physical twin might be a process, a person, a location, an apparatus, or a thing used for a specific purpose. In addition, it is possible to create a digital twin of that, either a limited-function digital twin or a full digital twin that includes the entire behaviour of its physical counterpart. Cities, manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, business, and academia are just a few examples of sectors where digital twins might be used; they could even be used as a novel energy-efficiency solution.
The primary purpose of the digital twin is to interact with its physical counterparts in the real world. The digital twin can track the current state of a physical object, establish its ideal state, predict its likely future state, and remotely make necessary adjustments to its physical location. In order to specify and mimic the state and behaviour of references to objects that do not yet exist in the actual world, digital twins can be constructed before the usage phase. Afterwards, the digital twin can continue to exist and be used to archive information about situations that no exist in the real world.
Digital twins have a maturity spectrum, so that with this levelling the effectiveness of the resulting digital twin platform can be mapped.
The maturity levels above can guide in determining the needs of the digital twin based platform. In order to attain a mature level of digital twin implementation, it must be supported by a strong infrastructure. Digital twins require infrastructure that enables the successful use of IoT and data analytics, making digital twins run effectively and according to the goals set.
The emergence of digital twins heralds a new era in the evolution of smart cities, with profound implications for urban development. Fueled by transformative technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI), the landscape of smart city infrastructure has evolved beyond static 3D modeling. Kenya’s counties situated at the intersection of innovation and urban planning, are poised to benefit from this paradigm shift, as cutting-edge digital twins offer a dynamic fusion of digital technology and static 3D models.
The digital twin concept, a technological marvel in the realm of smart cities, is characterized by four key features:
Accurate mapping within the digital twin framework means that Kenya’s urban landscape, including roads, bridges, and buildings, is comprehensively digitized. This digital representation extends beyond the physical realm, enabling the control of sensors in the lake, ground, underground, and rivers to monitor the key cities’ operational status, providing accurate and real-time information.
The interaction between the virtual and the actual world is a pivotal aspect for counties’ digital twin. This capability allows for the exploration of various traces within the city, encompassing climate patterns, the movements of individuals, logistics, and vehicles. It enables a nuanced understanding of the city’s dynamics and facilitates informed decision-making in response to real-world activities.
The software definition aspect signifies that a county’s smart city model is rooted in a virtual representation, utilizing software to simulate urban residents, activities, and infrastructure. This virtual emulation can serve as a valuable tool for city planners, offering insights into potential scenarios and aiding in strategic decision-making for sustainable urban development.
Intelligent feedback, a cornerstone of the digital twin concept, becomes a crucial asset for the counties. This feature provides early warnings for unintended consequences, conflicts, and urban dangers. Strategic planning, design, and simulation, enabled by intelligent feedback, can empower counties to proactively address challenges, fostering resilience and creating safer and smarter urban environments.
The integration of digital twins into Kenya’s urban planning paradigm represents a visionary approach to smart city development. With its accurate mapping, virtual–real interaction, software definition, and intelligent feedback, the digital twin concept is poised to enhance the country’s capacity for innovation, resilience, and sustainable urban progress. Kenya stand at the forefront of leveraging this transformative technology to shape a brighter and more connected future.
The utilization of digital twin technology within a city extends beyond monitoring to encompass dynamic simulations of various urban conditions. Kenya, with its forward-looking approach to urban planning, is well-positioned to leverage these simulations to optimize its development strategies. These simulations span a spectrum, ranging from the construction, sanitation, and the design of green spaces to flood and congestion scenarios. In the context of Kenyan counties, these simulations serve as a virtual testing ground for potential urban developments, allowing the community to actively participate in shaping the city’s future.
Furthermore, simulations extend to critical areas such as flood management and congestion scenarios—common challenges faced by urban areas. The accuracy and effectiveness of these simulations hinge on the availability of precise and comprehensive data and information. In the case of counties, a commitment to accurate data collection and integration becomes paramount to ensure the reliability of simulations, facilitating informed decision-making by local governments.
The application of digital twin simulations in counties signifies a transformative tool for inclusive and informed urban planning. By allowing the community to actively engage in simulations, counties can harness collective wisdom to navigate urban challenges and chart a course for sustainable development. The simulations become a catalyst for community input, driving decisions that resonate with the needs and aspirations of the residents.
In this blog post, a digital twin-based smart city platform model of Nairobi County is being proposed to be built, which can be a platform for accurately simulating city conditions, involving the community in providing input (feedback), and supporting accurate decisions. This development model is adopted from the digital twin smart city model, which divides the digital twin development model into six layers: terrain, buildings, infrastructure, mobility, digital layer/smart city, and virtual layer/digital twin. The development model proposed in this blog post makes it simpler to build a smart city based on digital twins mapped into four layers, as stated in the image below. The built model is as follows:
In the stratified architecture of the digital twin for urban development, climate action takes centre stage, influencing various layers to fortify counties’ resilience against environmental challenges. The first layer, the foundational tier, encapsulates essential city information such as street names, building details, and locations. This layer seamlessly intertwines with the terrain layer, incorporating city-specific data to harness an existing base map, often sourced from OpenStreetMap.
For Nairobi, this integration becomes a linchpin for climate-related initiatives, utilizing precise 2D maps to enhance route design, optimize delivery routes, and perform market analysis to bolster climate-resilient urban planning.
Moving to the second layer, the 3D layer emerges as a vital element akin to the buildings and infrastructure layer. Here, the development of digital objects for buildings and infrastructure takes place, contributing to a comprehensive 3D representation of the city. In the context of Nairobi, the utilization of Shapefile (GIS) data elevates spatial visualization, enabling precise terrain modeling crucial for climate adaptation. The 3D layer, enriched by data introduces a transformative dimension to maps, offering users profound insights and immersive experiences that resonate across diverse domains.
The digital twin layer, a dynamic counterpart to the tangible urban environment, integrates real-time data from various sources like sensors, CCTV, and IoT devices dispersed throughout the city. This layer serves as a pinnacle, reflecting the top three layers, as it dynamically displays real-time data derived from the city’s installed sensors. ArcGIS Online, a technological cornerstone, facilitates this process. Its cross-platform capabilities and intuitive interfaces enable the seamless integration of diverse data sources, transforming the digital twin into a real-time reflection of the city’s pulse.
Within the digital twin layer, real-time data integration becomes a catalyst for climate action, allowing for dynamic monitoring and response to environmental shifts. The integration of sensor data ensures that the county can proactively address climate-related challenges. By leveraging the Esri suite of applications, Nairobi can position itself at the forefront of climate-resilient urban planning, fostering sustainable development and informed decision-making. The digital twin becomes a powerful ally in the county’s commitment to climate action, offering a dynamic and responsive platform for ongoing environmental monitoring and adaptive strategies.
The architecture built to develop a digital twin-based smart city platform meets the sensing, understanding, and acting stages concept. The architectural design is as follows:
The proposed architecture is divided into three stages, namely the sensing, understanding, and acting stages. These three stages are also the basic methods for carrying out this digital twin development. At this stage, data is collected using sensors installed in the physical object environment. The sensors can be IoT, CCTV, or other sensors to detect weather, congestion, and other metrics. Furthermore, from the data obtained, an analysis can be carried out to enrich the information on the physical object. This data is then displayed together with the sensor results in model-based transformation.
At the understanding stage, the process of visualizing digital object data can be carried out. The purpose of this visualization is to communicate information more clearly and effectively to the user. One way that data visualization can be used is by augmenting information of the resulting digital object. Then, in the acting stage, the resulting platform can be used to carry out the monitoring and simulation process and become a decision support system for users in carrying out their daily activities or for the city government in future city development.
This developed architecture makes it easier to develop a digital twin-based platform. In the digital twin concept, a platform can already be called a digital twin if it can accurately represent physical objects into digital objects and have real-time connections. In this proposed architecture, to ensure real-time connectedness the presence of sensors are used to obtain data on physical objects. Then, the data is connected in real-time so that the visualization of digital objects can also be real-time.
Furthermore, one of the main characteristics of a digital twin platform is that the platform uses software to build a virtual representation of the actual condition of the physical object. Based on the maturity level previously stated, the architecture built allows the use of sensors in the form of IoT, CCTV, and other special sensors so that they can obtain data in real-time so that the maturity level for the platform being built can reach level 3 and make the resulting platform more efficient in its use.
In the platform development phase of the county’s digital twin, Esri engine serves as a conducive environment for integrating various data sources such as CCTV data, video analytics, sensors, IoT, and other relevant sources of information. In this blog post context, it is recommended to utilize OpenStreetMap as the foundational layer for the base map. Moreover, in addition to the foundational layer, three-dimensional items can be incorporated within said region. The 3D model is derived from shapefile data in a Geographic Information System (GIS), enabling the precise modelling of physical items’ coordinates, locations, and dimensions.
However, it should be noted that the model will be at Level of Development (LOD) Level 1. Subsequently, the more detailed information will provide comprehensive descriptions of particular 3D objects, enabling their visualization at LOD Level 2 or 3. The various stages of development are visually represented in the figure below. The development stage is carried out following the four-layer platform development model that have been defined previously. Start by creating a basic layer and add a 3D object on top of the basic map. Then, the data that has been obtained is integrated into the digital twin ecosysytem. Moreover, the top layer carries out data visualization, which can build user interactivity into the platform.
The establishment of a smart city platform rooted in the resultant digital twin offers a transformative avenue for monitoring and advancing the climate resilience of counties. The developmental stages of this platform adhere to a model comprising four layers: the foundational layer, 3D layer, digital twin layer, and augmented layer. Within this innovative platform, key data visualizations include agricultural productive areas, water sources, climate information, transport infrastructure and energy access. Additionally, the platform adeptly visualizes critical environmental parameters such as temperature, weather conditions, and more.
The real-time efficacy of these visualizations hinges on the preparedness of city infrastructures, particularly the deployment of sensors and IoT devices. This platform emerges as a centralized hub capable of integrating data from every sensor dispersed throughout county. The visualized information serves as valuable input for users and the community, aiding in the planning of daily activities and supporting governmental decisions concerning the future development of the county.
This blog post demonstrates the platform’s potential to augment user comprehension of data. By enhancing the depth of user knowledge, the platform can become a dynamic tool for fostering engagement and informed decision-making. Users’ feedback, garnered through this platform, can play a pivotal role in shaping future developments, guiding city stakeholders in making informed decisions crucial to the sustainable growth of Counties.
Future platform development must prioritize improvements in dashboards to effectively communicate data to users with clarity and precision. A user-friendly interface ensures that residents can easily interpret the latest city data, fostering a deeper connection between citizens and the platform. Moreover, the seamless operation and accuracy of the digital twin platform necessitate the continued availability and enhancement of city infrastructure to facilitate real-time data acquisition and visualization. This holistic approach positions any county that adopts the digital twin platform at the forefront of leveraging technology for climate-resilient urban planning and sustainable development.