Area of 6,800 sq. km... Over 920,000 Buildings
Foundation Laid for Smart City Implementation
Terrain Analysis, Skyline and Sunlight Assessment
Team Naver has completed the construction of a digital twin platform in major cities in Saudi Arabia, covering an area more than 11 times the size of Seoul. Saudi Arabia is expected to benefit from city planning and disaster preparedness capabilities that integrate high-resolution 3D images and a wide range of real-time data.
Naver announced on June 10 that Team Naver, a group of its affiliates, has completed the initial phase of its digital twin platform project in cooperation with Saudi Arabia, targeting the three cities of Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah. The company emphasized that this marks the beginning of establishing the foundation for implementing smart cities.
Saudi Arabia is pursuing the digital twin platform project with the aim of realizing future cities and becoming a global leader in the smart city sector. The project is led by Balady and NHC Innovation, with Team Naver providing technological collaboration.
The total area of the three cities where the digital twin platform has been completed is approximately 6,800 square kilometers, which is more than 11 times the size of Seoul, and includes over 920,000 buildings. High-resolution 3D images and various real-time data have been integrated, and local urban planners, engineers, and administrators in Saudi Arabia are utilizing the platform.
Usage of the digital twin platform operating locally in Saudi Arabia. (From the first photo on the left, clockwise) Flood simulation, terrain analysis, urban visibility analysis, sunlight analysis. Provided by Naver
The digital twin platform provides a variety of city planning support features and analysis results based on 3D models. For example, it enables terrain analysis, such as earthwork volume and slope calculations for urban development, and allows for skyline and sunlight analysis to assess the landscape and view of specific areas. It is also possible to link pre-construction design data to check for violations of building regulations.
The platform also supports simulations to prepare for natural disasters such as floods. By integrating data on flood frequency and urban waterways, it can visualize major flood-prone areas, as well as monitor the movement of rain clouds through rainfall radar visualization.
Balady plans to expand the digital twin platform to more cities in the future and ultimately develop it into a national-level platform, creating new use cases in both the public and private sectors. The ultimate goal is to transform Saudi Arabia into a country at the forefront of digital innovation.
Yasser Alobaidan, CEO of Balady, stated, "The digital twin platform is the clearest representation of Saudi Arabia's vision for a data-driven, sustainable future city," adding, "Our goal is to expand it nationwide to enable efficient urban planning and sustainable infrastructure development."
Han Sangyeong, Head of Global DX & Innovation at Naver Cloud, said, "We will continue to advance the platform in collaboration with local partners, expand to new regions, and discover new use cases."
Meanwhile, Team Naver was awarded the digital twin platform project by the Saudi Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing in October 2023, and began full-scale operations in July last year.
Last month, Naver Cloud and NHC Innovation, a digital subsidiary of the Saudi National Housing Company, announced the establishment of a joint venture, Naver Innovation, to develop and operate a map-based super application and expand business based on the digital twin platform.
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