Better data basis for smart cities: MISSION AI connects digital urban twin with data spaces
The initiative MISSION KI, together with the Data Competence Center for Cities and Regions (DKSR), the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), and the Smart City Office of the City of Augsburg, has successfully completed an innovative project for sustainable urban development. Since the beginning of the year, the partners have connected the digital twin of the city of Augsburg – a digital image for planning and simulation – to a data space for the first time. The Smart City Office was supported in this by the Mobility and Civil Engineering Office, the Economic Development Agency, and the city's regulatory authority. The partners developed a special software solution, called Urban Twin Link, for the implementation. Data spaces are standardized, secure infrastructures for the exchange and sharing of decentralized data sources. They form the basis for data-driven simulations and thus enable forward-looking traffic and urban planning.
Augsburg already had a functional digital twin, which was largely based on the Smart City Office's urban data platform. The partners used the Urban Twin Link software to connect the digital twin to the Mobility Data Space (MDS). This created a data pipeline that significantly expanded the database. Thanks to the improved database, Augsburg is now able to create precise simulations for urban planning.
Specifically, the team connected the cloud-based Urban Data Platform to a data storage module, known as a data sink, via the MDS. The team now wants to make the software architecture developed for this purpose available to other cities so that they can also connect their digital twins to data spaces such as the Mobility Data Space. To ensure this, the software is based on open-source modules and open, standardized interfaces. The goal is to promote better data usage and thereby enable sustainable urban planning across the board.
Manfred Rauhmeier, Board Member of the acatech Foundation:
“The cities of the future are created from networked data. Digital twins can only realize their potential if information interacts across systems and sectors. Data spaces create the necessary infrastructure for this – open, interoperable, and trustworthy. Connecting the digital city twin to a data space is a milestone on the road to comprehensive data use for sustainable urban planning."
Dr. Alanus von Radecki, CEO of the Data Competence Center for Cities and Regions:
"Seamless work with data across different areas remains challenging for many cities. As a result, the potential for sustainable and resilient urban development remains untapped. In Augsburg, we are demonstrating how data-based urban planning can work by connecting the digital twin to a data space. At the same time, a digital solution is being created that can be reused nationwide. I am particularly pleased that we have further developed our open-source DataHub CIVORA as part of the project. In the future, even complex models and simulations will be much easier for municipalities to use via standardized interfaces and analysis tools."
Dr. Wolfgang Hübschle, Economic Advisor to the City of Augsburg:
"The pilot phase has shown that data-based solutions make commercial traffic measurably more efficient. On this basis, we will be able to control loading and delivery zones more precisely in the future and strengthen the city center as a commercial location. With the Smart City Office, we are combining technical innovation and strategic city center development. This is future policy in action. I would like to express my special thanks to our project partners at Fraunhofer IML, DKSR, and acatech for their support within the framework of MISSION KI. This collaboration has played a decisive role in enabling us to open up new perspectives for smart city center development."
As part of the project, the team tested the new software architecture. To do this, data from the Mobility Data Space's data sharing community was transferred via the MDS to the digital twin of the city of Augsburg. The data was then used for a specific application in urban logistics. The partners used traffic and logistics data to dynamically design delivery and loading zones in Augsburg's city center. Based on data from courier, express, and parcel service providers as well as municipal data (geodata, traffic counts, accident data), machine learning algorithms were used to evaluate new delivery zones and identify locations with high logistical significance. Pattern recognition in delivery activity made it possible to identify locations where the establishment of logistics hubs would be particularly useful.
The Augsburg use case clearly demonstrated the added value of data transfer. This use case will now serve as a blueprint for other cities to better address similar challenges in urban and traffic planning. The team has now released the software architecture as an open-source solution under an MIT license to enable widespread reuse. It is available for download on GitHub.
Further information on Urban Twin Link can be found here.
