Expected outcomes:

An EU ecosystem of LDTs sharing a common blueprint.

An uptake in the number of local platforms and digital twins, with associated services compatible with the EU data cloud infrastructure, reusing interoperable and open-source tools from the LDT toolbox.

New AI-based services extending and supplementing the catalogue of the EU LDT toolbox for cities and communities.

Increasing and maturing the AI services offering the public domain with new predictive and modelling services and immersive solutions, paving the way to the CitiVerse.

Objective:

Building on the Data Space for Smart Communities and the EU Local Digital Twin (LDT) Toolbox, both supported by the WP 2021-2022, and in synergy with the action “Developing CitiVerse” (see 2.3.2), the main objective of this action is to consolidate existing results and move towards an ecosystem of mature and networked LDTs across the EU to help cities and communities achieve economies of scale when developing their data platform and LDT services.

EU cities and communities are evolving towards digital communities at a different pace and this topic is proposing three complementary activities to help them achieve economies of scale when adopting data, LDT and AI-based solutions. Previous WP supported the creation of an EU data space for smart communities (and its validation via pilots) and action 2.3.2 pioneers innovative services using ‘Citiverse’ technology. Under the WP 2021-22, the Commission has also launched procurement actions to support the development of a LDT toolbox in the EU. However, more effort is needed to create a pan-European ecosystem of digital twins that can connect and scale up towards a future “EU CitiVerse”. To achieve the approach is to support the development of open source LDT solutions based on common needs of EU cities and communities (both urban and rural), to connect them and to enrich them with additional innovative services. In order to address the different maturity level of cities and communities, this action will help (1) connect and further develop the already existing LDTs, (2) gain a critical mass of smart communities’ data sets, as well as (3) deploy, test, and add more complex AI-based elements to the LDT toolbox, addressing the needs of digitally advanced smart communities.

The action is divided in three objectives, each to be achieved through a separate work strand:

• Objective 1: Technical inter-connection of existing LDTs: Connecting data platforms and LDTs from cities and communities that already have a LDT in place, in order to create an EU “federation” of LDTs. Reinforced interoperability through the aggregation of LDTs at a larger scale (cross sectors, cross cities, and cross borders) will help to scale up the EU common data sets and open-source solutions. It will also facilitate the way for less advanced cities and communities who wish to join the existing EU LDT ecosystem.
• Objective 2: Creation of LDTs based on common needs: Developing open-source pilots of LDTs services, based on shared needs of cities and communities that already have a local data platform and/or a LDT and want to expand them with new real-life use case services. These services should aim to improve decision-making processes and citizen interaction; reduce risks, costs and downtime; enhance resilience and sustainability of LDT platforms and enable new value creation.
• Objective 3: Adding new complex AI-based tools to the LDTs toolbox: Complementing the EU LDT toolbox launched under WP2021-22 with additional complex AI-based and innovative services (e.g., for adaptable multi-sector considerations, advanced simulation and modelling approaches including bottom-up self-organised models). The AI services should be developed and tested within existing cities/communities and be transferable to other contexts.