The Digital Twin NRW (WWW.DZ.NRW.DE) was launched on September 19, 2024, as part of Intergeo 2024. The Digital Twin NRW provides a basic infrastructure of geospatial data and analysis tools and is freely available online to all interested users. The Digital Twin NRW can serve as the basis for specialized twins based on it, allowing scenarios for municipal tasks and state administration tasks. The Digital Twin NRW was further developed in 2025 with the following functions: loading individual 3D services, printing, cropping areas and replacing them with plans.

Districts and municipalities ensure a functioning local community for citizens and businesses in rural areas. Districts act as consolidating authorities with diverse responsibilities – including environmental and nature conservation, building administration, disaster management, digitalization, and public services. Many districts in North Rhine-Westphalia have been using geoinformation systems for years to implement intermunicipal cooperation. According to a survey by the NRW District Council, around 75% of NRW municipalities receive support from the districts in the area of geodata management (GDM). These existing digitalization networks are being used in the Herford district for further innovations in the area of municipal digital twins and data management in the smart region, supporting municipalities in the digitalization and optimization of processes and in their public services.

Over the past 20 years, an enormous geodata infrastructure has been built up in the city of Zurich. More than 500 data sets provide a comprehensive, digital image of reality. The city of Zurich is increasingly using digital twins to tackle specific issues and processes. In an urban context, a digital twin can offer a major advantage over traditional geodata infrastructure in a wide range of tasks. Various examples of digital twins will be presented in the presentation along with some organisational and technical basics.

Four years of digitization in powerline operations – we present the results and best practices from Netze BW's NETZinspect 2.0 project! The focus is on using geoinformatics and remote sensing technologies to increase the efficiency and accuracy of vegetation management. At the heart of the presentation are two innovations: TIP, our mobile GIS tool, that enables on-site recording of necessary measures, including photo documentation, and supports digital vegetation control. LiDAR provides centimeter-accurate data on fall-in and grow-in risks, especially helpful in difficult-to-access terrain. In addition to the digitization of vegetation management, NETZinspect 2.0 also includes virtual inspections by drone and an asset media platform for managing image and 3D data. Using concrete examples, the presentation demonstrates how agile project development, in close cooperation with power users and the strategic integration of remote sensing analyses, can digitize vegetation management along 3800 km of power lines.