[News Terms] 'Digital Twin' Drawing the Blueprint for Urban Planning in Saudi Arabia

Naver's $100 million 'Digital Twin' project, awarded by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing (MOMRAH) on the 24th, is a technology that creates an identical three-dimensional model of real-world objects in a virtual environment, enabling simulations such as analysis, prediction, and optimization based on various data.

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This technology allows for anticipating potential problems in reality, and it is being widely utilized not only in urban development, which Naver has recently secured a contract for, but also in manufacturing, medical services, environmental sectors, and more.

In particular, many companies use digital twin technology in stages such as product design, manufacturing processes, quality control, and maintenance. For example, Samsung Electronics applies digital twin technology in the construction of semiconductor factories. The purpose is to increase production yield through simulations of semiconductor manufacturing processes in a virtual space using digital twins. LG Electronics is also operating a smart park integrated production building that applies digital twin technology. LG Electronics collects and analyzes factory data in real time using its self-developed digital twin technology to supply parts efficiently within the factory.

Recently, there has been an active trend of utilizing digital twin technology in the bio and medical service fields. This involves modeling and analyzing human biometric signals, diagnostic results, and treatment processes as digital twins to provide personalized medical services or applying digital twin technology in the design, verification, and maintenance of medical devices.

The logistics industry also uses digital twin technology for inventory management and delivery tracking, while the energy and environmental sectors manage and analyze data generated during energy production, transmission, distribution, and consumption with digital twin technology to improve energy efficiency and safety.

As digital twin technology is applied across various fields, both the market and its scale are rapidly expanding. According to the global market research firm Global Market Insights (GMI), the digital twin market size is expected to grow rapidly at 25% annually from $8 billion last year to reach $90 billion by 2032.

Meanwhile, Naver's first large-scale Middle East project involves building and operating a cloud-based three-dimensional (3D) digital modeling digital twin platform over five years starting next year, targeting five cities including Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, as well as Medina, Jeddah, Dammam, and Mecca. Saudi Arabia plans to utilize the digital twin platform for urban planning and flood prediction, among other applications.