Transforming Infrastructure: The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency Roadmap to a Digital Twin Ecosystem
The Digital Twins Working Group (DTWG) of buildingSMART International (bSI) has since its inception in 2019 published three papers. In these papers, the DTWG introduced various concepts and frameworks to help the industry consider a future where an ecosystem of connected digital twins create value for people and nature. These papers are the outcome of a process with many contributors over the years and engagements with the wider bSI communities during summits (in particular in Düsseldorf, Rome, Lillestrøm, and Marrakesh).
Following the successful publishing of these papers and concepts, the DTWG decided to apply some of the frameworks and examples to a real-world case study. At the meeting in Lillestrøm, the team was very impressed with the approach being taken by The Finnish Transportation Infrastructure Agency (FTIA) and, in particular, the vision of Matti Pesu, Head of Development, Infrastructure Data, FTIA.
Therefore, bSI organized a two-day workshop in January 2025 with Matti at the FTIA offices in Helsinki, Finland, to explore and discuss how our work to date can be applied to the business context of an infrastructure asset owner.
Aidan Mercer, Bart Brink, Mark Enzer and Matti Pesu at FTIA's offices in Helsinki.
Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency
In this blog, we share some initial insights from the discussion and delve into how concepts and frameworks developed by the DTWG are providing actionable strategies for infrastructure asset owners.
FTIA oversees Finland’s extensive transportation infrastructure, including roads, railways, and waterways. Their mission is to maintain and enhance these assets sustainably, emphasizing asset preservation and optimization.
These assets are a part of critical infrastructure for Finnish society and the economy. Increasingly, FTIA is acknowledging that having the right information to make the right decisions over the asset lifecycle and in both strategic planning and operational decision-making is an essential part of their strategy. Therefore, there is an increasing need to enhance digital processes and to move to a data-driven way of working.
Furthermore, these processes and ways of working will also enable more intelligent asset management based on much more proactive, forward-looking planning being applied. For this development, digital twins have been identified by FTIA as a powerful tool for the future; not just by having multiple digital twins of individual assets but by having a connected ecosystem of digital twins in the wider network in the longer term, allowing FTIA to maximize their value for people and nature in the operating context.
To take steps in this journey, FTIA is today focusing on enhancing its digital processes. This is done in a pragmatic way to improve data flow, interoperability, and other key functions of good data governance. FTIA has published six priorities that will help them deliver these better digital processes. The six key priorities are:
- Data Flows: Identifying and documenting the data flows in order to be able to ensure seamless exchange of data across systems and stakeholders.
- Data Quality: Developing a comprehensible data quality framework to guarantee accurate data.
- Data Interoperability: Drilling down to the core components of data interoperability in order to ensure diverse systems connectivity.
- Data Security: Developing the data security mechanisms alongside advanced data usage of the digital twins.
- User-Centric Interfaces: Intertwining on-the-fly-analytics with intuitive tools and dashboards.
- Forecasting: Developing predictive capabilities throughout all transport modes'.
Working on these six priorities, FTIA is fully committed to and has embraced openBIM. FTIA is testing and working hard with standards like Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), the buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bSDD) and Information Delivery Specification (IDS).
Besides the fact that these six priorities create direct business value, they also provide a foundation for a future ecosystem of digital twins, discussed next.
The Three Digital Twins White Papers
Why is an ecosystem of Digital Twins a good thing?
A digital twins ecosystem links physical infrastructure with its digital counterpart, enabling greater insights and enhanced decision-making. For any organization, this means creating digital models for whatever business they conduct or for whatever service they provide. By connecting real-world data that is captured for a purpose, an organization can build accurate digital representations, ensuring continuous data flow and timely insights.
However, in all organizations with the growing volume of data that has to be managed, a strong governance strategy is critical for digital twins because it ensures the effective management, security, and use of the vast amounts of data generated and required to power these systems. Ensuring that someone in the organization has oversight of governance is crucial for long-term success.
Furthermore, these digital twins are not limited to organizational boundaries. Increasingly, data flows cross these boundaries between asset owners and their value chains (like design, construction, and maintenance). Assets like roads and railways are also part of wider ecosystems like transport networks. It is, therefore, important that, on a transport system level, multiple digital twins can collaborate. This is achieved not by creating one complex digital twin of the system as a whole but by developing a network of connected digital twins that share data in a federated, secure, and safe way.
This view fully aligns with a systems perspective on digital twins as outlined in the third paper of the DTWG.
Applying the Three Horizons Framework to structure the FTIA roadmap
If we take the six priorities and the FTIA context as an infrastructure owner, we can map their journey from a data perspective, as one of the seven perspectives, onto the Three Horizons Framework:
Horizon 1: Tackling Today’s Challenges
The current phase focuses on overcoming barriers to digital twin adoption, such as:
- Data Quality: Ensuring accurate, standardized data.
- Data Interoperability: Integrating diverse data sources.
- Data Security: Safeguarding sensitive information.
Horizon 2: Scaling the Ecosystem
In this phase, FTIA aims to expand the digital twin ecosystem across all transportation assets. Key efforts include:
- Refining digital twin models for predictive maintenance.
- Integrating data from all asset types into a cohesive system.
- Fostering cross-silo collaboration among stakeholders.
Horizon 3: Realizing the Vision
The ultimate goal is a fully integrated digital twin ecosystem delivering real-time insights and predictive capabilities. This will enable FTIA to:
- Optimize infrastructure planning, building and maintenance costs.
- Enhance sustainability and minimize environmental impacts.
- Make proactive, data-driven decisions to prevent asset failures and extend asset lifecycles.
By focusing on a data governance strategy to support the ultimate goal of achieving connected digital twins at FTIA, it can be applied to the Three Horizons Framework. In Horizon 1, the focus is on establishing data quality, security, and interoperability to address foundational challenges. In Horizon 2, scaling the ecosystem requires data flows, interoperability, and user-centric interfaces to expand across assets and foster collaboration. Finally, in Horizon 3, forecasting, real-time data flows, and advanced interoperability enable the ultimate vision of a sustainable, predictive, and fully integrated digital twins ecosystem.
It has to be acknowledged that in the above, we focus on two perspectives: data and interoperability. As introduced in the second DTWG paper, next to the Three Horizons Framework, these are just two out of seven perspectives that need to be considered in the journey ahead.
Final Thoughts
It has been a great journey for the DTWG, and it was nice to visit the offices in Helsinki in January 2025. We were hugely impressed by the approach taken by the organization and found real insights working with Matti Pesu and some of his colleagues. It is also very clear that FTIA is in the same boat as many large asset owners.
FTIA’s six priorities reflect a comprehensive approach to achieving data-driven decision-making, ensuring interoperability, and fostering collaboration across stakeholders. These priorities also align with and are the foundation for the broader goals of the DTWG, which emphasizes the importance of creating ecosystems that are not only innovative but also practical and scalable.
Authors: Aidan Mercer and Bart Brink.