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Six years ago, this very magazine published an article about the Organization for International Economic Relations and the United Smart Cities Program, both of which I led at the time. It was about a global city-leadership program, initiated in cooperation with the United Nations, to bridge people’s needs with solutions and capital and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in cities.
It was an ambitious vision which was challenging in many areas, but especially so due to the lack of local scalable business and investment models and a lack of knowledge at the local level in how to systematically approach city development and financing. We learned many lessons through almost ten years of work but one stood out as a very clear realization on what is needed: we need to use digital twins and simulations to scale businesses and investments.
Today, we have the technology, solutions and capital available to us to solve all challenges. But we lack a systematic approach to planning and managing complex systems, and leadership tools to better understand and prioritize projects. I therefore started investigating how to apply digital twins and simulation technologies across all sectors, building on 20+ years of simulation experience developed in Norway, and to investigate what it would mean to realize the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Accord.
We looked into city infrastructure and thought about how energy and mobility systems work today and how they should be built in the future, testing solutions from corporations across all sectors. We analyzed everything from technologies to prevent floods to cleanwater pipes. We simulated investments and capital allocations. We looked into how sports and cultural events enable positive change. The list goes on. There is no sector or topic that cannot be simulated with the help of a digital twin – and most importantly digital twins.
Did you know that humans understand data 60.000 faster in a visual format? As one city leader said to me: “Compared to the time it takes to read a thousand-pages report, you can understand the whole energy system in our city within minutes”. This can massively reduce the time it takes to plan projects and could be an important way to incorporate citizens. That is the most important lesson here: we need to make this groundbreaking technology easily available to all.
These days I, together with some pioneers, am leading the development of two global platform called Open Twins and Hummano. The idea is that digital twins and simulation tools should be made available to all interested stakeholders. Data and knowledge are collected on a shared and open platform that is available to all citizens and decision-makers. The goal is to create a marketplace of opportunities, tested solutions and capital.
The most important bridge for the future is – without a doubt – using technology, and AI, combined with human creativity, wisdom and capabilities to solve issues benefiting us all.
Kari Aina Eik has developed and led several global multi-stakeholder programs to bridge the worlds of global markets, cities and investments, among them United Smart Cities. She is a partner of Meersohn Marstrand and Open Twin, and serves on the board of several initiatives focused on system innovation, investments, and technology. The Norwegian has spent most of her professional life in Vienna.
Text: Kari Aina Eik
Illustration: Marlene Zumpf