News Excerpt: 

The Survey of India (SOI) has signed an agreement with Genesys International to create 3D maps of major cities and towns by 2035, in line with the national geospatial policy's goal of making 'digital twins' of urban areas.

‘Digital Twins’

• The concept of 'digital twins' refers to a virtual replication of a real object, process, or service at the core of the new digital revolution.
• National Geospatial Policy stated its goals to bring out a high-resolution topographical map of “every inch” of India by 2030 and make digital twins of India’s major cities and towns by 2035.

Significance of Digital twins

• These maps are three-dimensional representations of cities and can be used in various planning applications when coupled with high-resolution images.

• The digital twinning of urban areas will help disaster management and provide details on vulnerability aspects of properties and infrastructure through digital terrain/surface models.
• The 'digital twins' is a virtual replica of a physical asset, process or service that lies at the core of the new digital revolution. It can facilitate better decision-making for all kinds of facilities and services in urban areas, including traffic planning, real estate development, revenue (property tax) collection and ecological planning.
• The twin - a digital copy of physical assets - will also help policymakers understand how infrastructure will function in different situations, such as high-footprint events, population increase, or natural disasters.

About The Agreement

• The Agreement will allow Genesys to generate ‘three-dimensional digital twins’ for ‘major Indian cities and towns, develop an ‘urban 3-D data model,’ and “licence” geospatial data products to buyers in a ‘content-as-a-service’ model.

• Genesys International will use the SOI's nationwide state-of-the-art national survey network of over 900 Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) to provide real-time location-based mapping and positioning services with an accuracy of + / - 3cm, as well as host an array of different positioning services targeted to cater to the needs of different segments of the geospatial and scientific communities.

Future Endeavours

• Combining the CORS technology with Genesys' mapping expertise improves the accuracy and reliability of geospatial data, opening up new opportunities for India's development.
• The opening of data sets by SOI to the private sector is also in sync with national geospatial policy, which aims to bring out high-resolution topographic maps covering every inch of the country by 2030.