Our future is already written in the data. Are we ready to act on it?
From climate-resilient infrastructure to real-time public transport coordination, digital twins are redefining how leaders see and shape the systems they govern. These virtual models, fed by live data and enriched through simulation, make it possible to test decisions, anticipate outcomes, and design better services before acting in the real world. For public institutions and private sector organisations alike, digital twins offer a powerful proposition: a smarter way to manage complexity, reduce risk, and improve outcomes for communities. But unlocking their full potential isn’t just a technical challenge; it’s a design, and governance, one too.
What is a Digital Twin?
To explain a digital twin, let’s compare it to constructing a building.
A building plan gives you a fixed vision: static diagrams that lay out what the structure should be. It’s useful for planning, but it doesn’t tell you what it feels like to move through the space, where the sunlight falls at midday, or how people actually use each room.
A digital twin is the next step. It’s not just a plan, it’s a dynamic, real-time model of the physical world. Imagine standing inside the building, watching the way it adapts through the day; lights flick on, temperatures shift, foot traffic flows. You’re not reading about it, you’re experiencing it as it happens.
Now take that level of detail and insight, and apply it to something far more complex: a hospital system, a regional transport network, or an entire city. A digital twin brings data and infrastructure to life, helping planners, engineers, and decision-makers understand what’s happening, test ideas safely, and make smarter choices without guesswork.
From Andrew Apostola, Portable's CEO:
Traditionally, government data has been a mess. It’s siloed, poorly structured, and the user experience often suits groups of people with deep subject matter expertise and leaves everyone else out. Digital Twins, at their best, solve these problems of access, structure, visualisation, and user experience. They can provide a structured and easily accessible way for people all across government to share and access information and overlay that to create new insights. At their worst, digital twins are just silos of information in themselves — and that’s why you need a strong strategy for interoperability, governance, and human-centred design to ensure they remain open, useful, and genuinely transformative.
Digital Twin Victoria: Engineering a shared language for complex decisions
Victoria’s Digital Twin program (DTV) is more than a visualisation tool. It’s a critical piece of infrastructure for evidence-based planning. Led by the Victoria’s Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), the initiative brings together thousands of datasets into a high-fidelity, spatially accurate platform that enables scenario modelling, live data overlays, and predictive analysis across government functions.
The technical team at Portable works closely with DTP’s DTV team to deliver crucial enhancements and support to the platform. One of these enhancements now allows Digital Twin Administrators to manage communications with various stakeholders. With the uplift of the 3D modelling feature, stakeholders can now render 3D models in a more intuitive and user-friendly way.
The addition of another cloud service provider as a data source means organisations across Victoria now have more choice when it comes to storing and managing their spatial data. This wasn’t just about adding another provider, the Portable team also enhanced the platform such that additional cloud storage providers can be integrated with minimal effort.
These enhancements ensure the platform remains at the forefront of digital twin technology, enabling better decision-making through accurate, real-time spatial insights. By staying aligned with modern cloud capabilities and user needs, the platform continues to support scalable, future-ready infrastructure planning. It’s all part of a broader commitment to delivering innovative tools that help shape smarter, more connected communities across Victoria.
From Faiq Gadzhar, Technical Lead on the project:
It’s been a pleasure working with the DTV team. They’re responsive, forward-thinking, and focused on creating a meaningful product roadmap. I’m delighted to contribute to the development of such a valuable tool for all Victorians. Digital twins have incredible potential to transform how we plan, manage, and interact with our built and natural environments. Portable’s commitment to human-centred design and driving meaningful change played a key role in shaping a solution that’s not only technically robust but genuinely useful to the people it serves.
Why digital twins matter now—across sectors
The opportunity for digital twins isn’t confined to planning departments or geospatial specialists. Any organisation that makes decisions with spatial, environmental, or operational data stands to benefit. local councils mapping population growth, to utility companies managing climate risk, to emergency services coordinating real-time responses.
But as with any powerful technology, the real value lies in how it’s implemented. Portable brings the engineering precision, and system thinking, required to build scalable platforms, but we also bring the deep design practice needed to make them intuitive, ethical, and aligned with public outcomes. It’s this dual capability—technical leadership with human insight—that defines our approach to digital twin projects.
As governments and industry continue to navigate volatility, tools that reveal interconnected risks and opportunities in real time will become essential. Portable is ready to partner with those ready to lead that change.
Let's build the future, with digital twins
If you're navigating complex infrastructure, planning smarter cities, or simply looking to make better use of your data—let’s talk. Portable partners with leaders ready to turn insight into action through human-centred, technically robust digital twin solutions.
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