The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) has launched a demo a pioneering ‘digital twin’ platform that enables advanced simulations of the nation’s health, environment and climate within a detailed, interactive 3D model of New Zealand.
As the first and only platform of its kind in New Zealand, the platform provides an innovative lens on the country, integrating data from over 30 national sources, paired with cutting-edge AI-driven simulation technologies to replicate the behaviours and characteristics of the nation and its people. The tool allows users to model complex ‘what-if’ scenarios – from actions that might influence the spread of a virus, to the efficiency of new transport systems and impact of supply chain disruptions – to gain insights that can help decision makers shape the future of the nation.
“At the heart of the platform is our synthetic population, generated from census and Stats NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure, where we've created over 5 million individuals, each with more than 80 unique attributes,” says ESR Data Science Lead Alvaro Orsi. “This isn't just a statistical model – it's a living, breathing digital representation of New Zealand's diverse population, generating life diaries for each these digital kiwis. This brings these synthetic individuals to life, modelling their daily activities, movements and interactions.
“By leveraging advanced AI models, our platform can forecast scenarios and uncover causal relationships within the data. This offers a powerful decision support tool that can benefit New Zealand across a range of situations, and we are excited to explore the many different directions ongoing work in this area may take.”
For more information about ESR's digital twin of New Zealand contact the Data Science Team.
