Interoperability Layer for Infrastructure Digital Twins: A Normalized Cross-Asset Information Model and Ontology-Mapping Pipeline

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-685-2_18How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Infrastructure Digital Twins; BIM-GIS-IoT Integration; Data Interoperability; Ontology Mapping; Smart Cities; Sustainable Infrastructure Management

Abstract

This research addresses data interoperability in Infrastructure Digital Twins by proposing a unified framework to integrate heterogeneous data sources from Building Information Modelling (BIM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. The study develops a normalized cross-asset information model supported by an automatic ontology-mapping pipeline and dynamic update strategies, implemented on semantic-graph and message-oriented technology stacks. The framework aligns with industry standards including Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), CityGML, OGC SensorThings, and MQTT-based event streaming to support both polling-based and event-driven update mechanisms for real-time synchronization. Evidence from operational city-scale digital twins such as Virtual Singapore, the Helsinki Kalasatama Digital Twins, and Rotterdam’s 3D city model demonstrates the practical feasibility of BIM-GIS-IoT integration using similar standards and architectures for urban planning, flood risk assessment, and infrastructure asset management. Quantitative results from existing BIM-IoT deployments show energy savings up to 25% in HVAC operations, reductions of approximately 30% in bridge inspection costs, and typical digital twin return on investment horizons of 12-36 months in infrastructure-intensive sectors. By mapping these real-world outcomes to the proposed information model and update strategies, the research provides a design-science artifact whose expected benefits are grounded in documented empirical studies. The framework supports sustainable infrastructure management by enabling real-time decision-making, predictive maintenance, and cross-asset optimization in line with smart city digital twin practices emerging in leading cities.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Harsh Vora
AU  - Kiran Trivedi
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/26
TI  - Interoperability Layer for Infrastructure Digital Twins: A Normalized Cross-Asset Information Model and Ontology-Mapping Pipeline
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Infrastructure Development and Sustainability (ICIDS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 322
EP  - 339
SN  - 3005-155X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-685-2_18
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-685-2_18
ID  - Vora2026
ER  -