Finland connects its Local Digital Twin ecosystem with LDT CiTiVERSE EDIC

Finnish cities, national stakeholders and European partners came together on 22 September for the LDT CiTiVERSE EDIC Finnish National Activation Session, organised with Living-in.EU. The session explored how existing Finnish expertise, networks and Local Digital Twin initiatives can connect with the wider European ecosystem and contribute to the development of EDIC services that respond to cities’ needs.

Europe’s Local Digital Twin ecosystem does not start from scratch. Across Member States, cities and national organisations are already developing data spaces, 3D city models, Digital Twins and innovative applications addressing concrete urban challenges.

The question for LDT CitiVERSE EDIC is therefore not only how to create new European capabilities, but also how to connect and build on what already exists nationally.

This was at the heart of the Finnish National Activation Session held on 22 September. Moderated by Jaan Saar, Operations Lead at LDT CitiVERSE EDIC, the online session brought together Finnish public administrations and stakeholders to discuss the country’s Local Digital Twin landscape, existing initiatives and opportunities for collaboration with the EDIC ecosystem.

Connecting national ecosystems with European collaboration

Jan Wester, Director of LDT CitiVERSE EDIC, opened the discussion by presenting the EDIC and the rationale behind working directly with national stakeholders.

The national activation approach aims to connect cities, existing networks and initiatives within each country with the wider European LDT CitiVERSE EDIC ecosystem. This creates an opportunity not only to share experience across borders, but also to understand what cities need and help shape EDIC services around different national and local contexts.

From the Finnish perspective, Olli Voutilainen, from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland, and Anni Joela, from the City of Tampere, explained how Finnish participation in the EDIC is organised and how cities can benefit from this European collaboration.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment acts as the responsible organisation, while the City of Tampere coordinates Finnish involvement.

Building on existing experience

A central theme throughout the session was the importance of building on initiatives and expertise that are already in place.

Markku Niemi, Business Tampere, looked back at the Smart Communities Network and its role in providing cities with information and training on European digital transformation initiatives.

The session also brought in experience from another national ecosystem. Koos Boersma, Geonovum, presented how geospatial data initiatives in the Netherlands are being used to address challenges such as housing and the environment, while contributing to the bottom-up development of a European Local Digital Twin ecosystem.

These experiences illustrate an important principle for LDT CitiVERSE EDIC: European collaboration can help connect and reuse existing knowledge rather than asking every city or country to develop solutions independently.

Local Digital Twins in practice: Helsinki and Tampere

The second part of the session brought the conversation closer to practical city applications.

Tiina Talvitie presented Helsinki’s experimental approach to Digital Twins and demonstrated how citizen needs can inform the development of the city’s 3D model, with applications ranging from construction to improving the visual quality of green environment models.

Heli Ponto, Forum Virium Helsinki, introduced work within the Regions4Climate project, including an AI-powered Local Digital Twin demonstration tool for climate adaptation. The work explores how digital tools can help understand urban phenomena such as the effects of heat islands.

From Tampere, Matias Ansaharju explained how the city is using geospatial data for Local Digital Twins and its ambition to move from siloed data governance towards an urban data space.

Together, these examples demonstrated the diversity of capabilities that already exist within the Finnish ecosystem — and the opportunity to connect them with other cities and initiatives across Europe.

From national experience to a European ecosystem

The Finnish session reflects a wider objective of LDT CitiVERSE EDIC: creating stronger connections between local implementation, national ecosystems and European infrastructure.

National activation provides a space to identify existing capabilities, understand common challenges and explore how EDIC services can respond to the practical needs of cities in different Member States.

For Finland, the session was a first step in bringing these perspectives together and strengthening the connection between Finnish cities and the wider European Local Digital Twin community.

The conversation will continue as LDT CitiVERSE EDIC works with its members, cities and partners to develop an interoperable ecosystem in which knowledge, tools and successful approaches can increasingly be shared and reused across Europe.