With the help of video game software developer Unity, the Orlando Economic Partnership is creating an interactive 3D map of the entire Orlando, Fla., region to show to companies who may want to locate in the area.
New mapping and other real-time technologies are allowing communities to showcase their regions in approaches that reach far beyond the static PowerPoint.
The Orlando Economic Partnership (OEP) is developing a “digital twin” of the 40-square-mile metro region of Orlando, Fla. The project uses 3D tech and real-time data to fashion an interactive map offering a view of demographics, business development and other variables crucial to companies that may want to locate in the region.
The digital twin “will rely on real-time data to provide information that would typically be shared in a report or a presentation that can include anything from demographics to open land and commercial or industrial real estate that is available for companies thinking of moving to the Orlando area,” explained Alyssa Cohen, a senior account executive with the Partnership.
The first phase of the project is geared toward developing a tool for site selection and economic development. This tool will include data from a range of sources at the federal, state, county and local levels in areas like demographics, education and more.
“This will save a lot of drive time for any company representative who comes into town thinking about a relocation. They’ll be able to see the visual of what’s available,” Cohen remarked.
A second phase will create an even richer product with more data from stakeholders, such as utility companies or other organizations, to create a more comprehensive view of the region from a number of perspectives like planning, infrastructure, climate resilience and more, say officials.
“So while many cities have just the city and have a digital twin that can solve one problem, OEP’s will be more versatile,” said Cohen.
The idea behind packaging big data into a real-time digital and interactive product has begun to see wider emergence as smart city initiatives and technology developments in areas like IoT take on broader applications.
“I think it’s safe to say that ‘digital twinning’ as a tool is becoming more widespread in the smart city space,” said Eric Egan, a policy fellow in e-government at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
More than 500 cities are expected to launch some form of digital twin by 2025, according to ABI Research.
Visualizing real-time data can aid in urban planning, transportation and other large policy areas as cities manage multi-modal transportation, infrastructure and other areas.
“But cities are also intending to use digital twins as ‘virtual command centers’ that can actively control elements of their physical counterparts — like flipping a switch to reduce the speed limit for autonomous vehicles,” said Egan.
OEP is working with Unity, a video game software developer, to create the technology platform that will display 40 square miles of Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties.
The digital twin is currently in the testing phase and is set to be unveiled in the new OEP headquarters lobby later this year, Cohen said.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Skip Descant
Quelle/Source: Government Technology - Future Structure, 03.03.2022
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