Land ministry to facilitate Digital New Deal with digital twin tech

News reporters, officials from the land ministry and spatial information data software developers participate in an online conference organized by the ministry, Thursday. Courtesy of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

By Lee Kyung-min

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Sunday that it plans to create a 3D map of the entire country by 2022 using “digital twin” technology, in a sweeping move to advance the Digital New Deal, the growth initiative of the Moon Jae-in administration to identify sustainable business models.

Referring to a digital replica of a living or non-living physical entity, a digital twin can represent the actual physical assets including people, places, systems and devices. It will help improve the accuracy of simulation models enabled by fuller integration of Internet of things (IoT) technologies.

The smart data-based operation will facilitate more prompt, efficient and to-the-point problem-solving needed for effective management of state resources, strengthening public safety and security, city planning, disaster prevention and capabilities to overcome environmental challenges.

An image slide of a PowerPoint presentation on the Digital Twin technology Courtesy of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

Under the plan, the ministry will spend 9.1 billion won ($7.7 million) to create a 3D map of land, buildings and roads, while 18 billion won will be needed for making aerial view maps.

This will help the analysis of areas concentrated with carbon emissions and fine dust as well as of wind paths, the combination of which will be visualized on the map, helping the authorities better come up with measures to effectively tackle problems.

Also to be enhanced are accuracy in determining the scope and the area of 5G wireless connection networks, developing new location-based services, improving overall architectural design and construction planning and providing road and traffic information for autonomous driving.

Some 16 billion won will be spent on creating a high-definition road map for national highways and rural roads that will cover 18,370 kilometers, to help lay the groundwork for the commercialization of autonomous vehicles by 2027 as well as overall improvement in infrastructure maintenance.

Another 33.5 billion won will be needed to create 3D imaging of underground spaces with 15 different types of information including the nature and usage of underground structures and facilities as well as soil composition in 33 cities for effective construction planning and safety management.

A case in point is a pilot project ongoing between Jeonju City, North Jeolla Province, and Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corp. (LX), a state-run, land ministry-supervised agency that provides cadastral and spatial information.

In case of emergency, for example, requiring the use of an automated external defibrillator, which helps those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, a person who calls for help on the 119 emergency hotline will automatically receive a text on the information about the nearest location of the apparatus.

“The service will become more sophisticated once the height variable factors in after the digitization efforts to create 3D map completes by November in Jeonju,” LX Smart Platform Department Manager Park Sun-woo said during an online conference organized by the ministry, Thursday. “More sophisticated services integrated by the data analysis platform will be offered as early as 2022.”

A similar projects is underway in Singapore, among other digitization-savvy countries, he added. “Cooperation with relevant organizations could be in store to bolster information sharing,” he said.