Government officials and academic figures celebrate the launch of Digital Twin Society initiative at Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport building in Sejong, Friday. Courtesy of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

By Lee Kyung-min

The government has launched a forum for government, academia and private experts to advance discussions on and the development of digital twin technology, the land ministry said Friday.

The term digital twin refers to a virtual representation of a real-world physical system, people or a process that serves as the indistinguishable digital counterpart of it for practical purposes, such as system simulation, integration, testing, monitoring, and maintenance.

This technology will help improve the accuracy of simulation models enabled by the fuller integration of the internet of things (IoT).

This smart technology can bolster the effective management of state resources, leading to an improvement in public safety and security, city planning, disaster prevention and capabilities to overcome environmental challenges.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said about 50 members of the "Digital Twin Society" initiative attended the launch, followed by in-depth discussions on ways to introduce and implement next-generation technology for faster and to-the-point problem-solving.

Participating municipalities included Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Incheon Metropolitan Government, Asan City, South Chungcheong Province, Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, Jangseong County and South Jeolla Province.

The members will meet every quarter to share opinions and make recommendations with the government. It will be organized by Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corp. (LX), a state-run, land ministry-affiliated agency that provides cadastral and spatial information.

"The launch of the Digital Twin Society initiative will lay the foundations for the country's digital transformation, a basis for the technology to be used to solve a host of challenges in the city and society as a whole," a ministry official said at the ceremony held at the ministry's building in Sejong, Friday.

"The use of these technologies will lead to a marked improvement in transportation, the environment and disaster response measures. We will continue to maintain close cooperation among the industry, academia and research institutes for the country to cement itself as a leader and as a high-tech global player."