Digital can help reduce natural disaster impact: AIIA

The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) is calling on state and federal governments to work together on disaster preparedness by leveraging modern digital technologies, including digital twin capability and digital emergency communications solutions.

The organisation is encouraging governments at all levels to engage in strategic and long-term planning by ramping up investments in cutting-edge digital infrastructure, which will lead to better coordination in flood and fire intelligence, ultimately saving lives and property.

The greater adoption of disaster dashboard apps maintained in consultation with local governments and access to dynamic data would better empower local decision-makers right through to the citizen level, when paired with resilient backbones of telecommunications and digital access, the AIIA said.

The predictive nature of digital twins and their ability to connect previously unknown or unrelated variables can give governments and planning authorities enhanced simulation capabilities.

“The use of real-time, visual, simulation-capable digital twins of natural systems can provide authorities with a vital tool for smart flood and bushfire preparedness, especially when leveraged with Internet of Things (IoT) point solutions, flood sensors and artificial intelligence (AI),” AIIA CEO Simon Bush said.

“In changing landscapes and climates, analog flood maps are liable to become out of date. The dynamism and agility of the digital twin model, when paired with rich streams of data, could be a game changer for assessing flood-prone areas.”

Associate Professor Andrew Butt, from the Centre for Urban Research at RMIT, is an Associate Member of the AIIA and thinks data can play a key role in better decision-making.

“Sound and dynamic modelling can better inform planning decisions at both the local and state government levels. Where data is out of date or inconsistent, development decisions will be made without fully anticipating the risks that could affect the land on which our homes and businesses are built,” he said.

“There is uneven capability and technology across many less-resourced regional communities that are flood-prone. This calls for a joined-up approach to data analytics and sophisticated technologies that can apply and be accessed by decision-makers across the board.”

The 2021 AIIA white paper ‘Growing Globally Competitive Industries’ advocated for an Office of National Digital Twin to drive capability uplift and applications including coordination with urban planning and spatial agencies. Through a national standards roadmap, effective data management principles and collaborative consortia with academia and industry, government can drive consistency in the application of digital twin technology and advance its mature use, the white paper proposed.

Existing state government initiatives such as Digital Twin Victoria and the NSW Department of Customer Service’s Digital Twin project are encouraging steps and should be targets for future investment and rollout by governments at every level, the AIIA believes.

“When it comes to disaster preparedness, governments need to embrace digital twins and digital technologies to ensure we can best manage future natural disasters and events. We encourage governments to advance the use of digital twins as dynamic mapping tools that are fit for the challenges of the 21st century, galvanising the important work of leading state governments across Australia,” Bush said.

Image credit: iStock.com/bakhtiar_zein