Director Update: December

If I were to sum up the last few months in just a couple of words, it would be collaboration and exploration.

As we continue to develop our four initial use cases for Spatial WA, the team has been engaging with key stakeholder agencies across Government, hosting workshops to better understand the challenges we are facing, mapping processes and confirming the scope and outcomes for each use case. The importance of this work cannot be understated as we strive to understand the ‘now’. Doing this sets up the Program to report on the ‘future’ and demonstrate real benefits through this once in a generation investment. It really is an exciting time as we start to envisage exactly how the Digital Twin could be used across Government.

In September I travelled to Brisbane as part of an ongoing cross-jurisdiction collaboration with our counterparts who are each at various stages of their digital twin projects. Held bi-annually, these sessions are important to share learnings, discuss common challenges and build advocacy.

It was no surprise that housing supply is a common challenge across the country, and it was fantastic to hear real-life case studies from NSW and Victoria on how their Digital Twins have helped inform Governments’ response to housing. Having a common platform can help Government to focus on the importance of having stakeholders’ work together to visualise development applications and streamline processes.

Our own use case around Digital Approval Workflows for land development aims to highlight the potential efficiencies through using a Digital Twin to support how proponents work with Government to increase projects aimed at supporting housing supply.  

Jasmine Muir, Spatial Architect presented at the WA Geospatial Conference

The team has also kicked off innovative work on a feasibility study to create and update a 3D buildings dataset for the State. The 3D buildings dataset is essential for the Digital Twin, and will provide critical context for planning, investment, and emergency management.  Jasmine Muir, Spatial Architect for Spatial WA presented this work at the 2024 Western Australian Geospatial Conference this month.

As we approach the end of the year, we are still progressing the procurement of the ASDT technology platform and prepare for the implementation phase of the Program. 2025 is shaping to be an exciting year as we aim to start delivering the first look for how the ASDT will help shape our future.

Darren Mottolini

Program Director – Spatial WA