Urban Digital Twins (UDTs) have attracted growing attention in recent years. But beyond the hype, city officials are still grappling with fundamental questions: What exactly is a digital twin? Do we really need one? What scale and scope makes sense for our city?

For many local administrations, the technical complexity of UDTs -data integration, infrastructure, interoperability- is already a challenge. Yet, the bigger gap is often more basic: understanding how an UDT can support strategic goals, how it fits into local governance structures, and how to use it in decision-making processes that are not always data-driven.

Building on the learnings on the 2024 edition, this partnership between Eurocities Academy and  responds to this gap. It is designed not for cities that already have all the answers, but for those asking the right questions. It support participants in critically assessing whether, when, and how a UDT could benefit their city. It also offers concrete strategies to overcome common barriers and ensure that any UDT initiative is more than a flashy dashboard.

About the organisers

The Eurocities Academy is the organisation's training initiative, which provides capacity-building services to city leaders and experts to effectively engage with the EU and to tackle current and future urban challenges. Since starting operations in 2024, the Academy has trained over 240 city leaders and officers from over 130 different cities.

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC) is Spain's leading center for supercomputing and one of Europe's most prestigious research institutions in high-performance computing, modelling and simulation.

BSC leads cutting-edge research on digital twin technologies, helping cities and governments across Europe understand and simulate complex urban systems. Through the vCity project, BSC support the co-creation of people-centred UDTs that can improve decision-making and foster inclusive urban transformation.