ETRI helps local governments to establish policies based on digital twin technology

[Smart City Today]

Korean researchers are making headlines by applying "digital twin" technology to support local governments' policy establishment.

The Korea Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) said it has launched a digital twin simulation demonstration service with Sejong City for three months from October to establish scientific policies.

There are three digital twin simulation demonstration services developed by ETRI: ▲ Efficient operation of public bicycles in Sejong City ▲ Efficient relocation of public bicycles ▲ Prediction of major social indicators linked to digital twin simulation.

Accurate data is needed for simulation through digital twin technology to produce reliable results. However, there were restrictions such as access to personal information, so digital twin technology could be used only in certain parts.

ETRI researchers have developed and supplemented core technologies for urban administration digital twin required to support scientific policy decisions, such as ▲ agent-based urban model modeling ▲ policy combination tool SW ▲ delta simulation engine.

In addition, with ETRI at the center, joint research institutes such as Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Administration, KAIST, Hanbat University, Vibe Company, and Sejong Special Self-Governing City, collected various data related to urban administration.

In addition, it developed a virtual Sejong digital twin based on the actor activity model to support actual policy establishment.

Based on this, the researchers have supported a total of six actual policies since 2020. ▲Efficiency of Sejong City's public bicycle operation policy (20.7) ▲ Analysis of the effect of establishing a wide-area express bus route between Sejong and Daejeon ('21.7) ▲ Prediction of appropriate bicycle placement by Sejong City's public bicycle station (21.11).

The demonstration service provided this time not only supports policy establishment but provides policy establishment and operation personnel with simulation results in the direction of policy operation in connection with changes in the situation. This is the first time supporting the establishment and operation of policies using digital twins in a real environment.

Jung Young-joon, head of ETRI's Intelligent Simulation Platform Research Division, said, "This is a meaningful example of the data-based digital twin simulation technology developed by ETRI being applied to the actual policy establishment and operation site of Sejong City. In the future, we will try to advance technology and spread it to other local government to become a reference case for the digital platform government.”