Across the public and private sectors, digital twins and advanced geospatial data are transforming how infrastructure is monitored, managed, and strengthened against emerging risks. This session explores innovative applications of 3D modeling, remote sensing, and data integration that enhance resilience, efficiency, and decision-making across utility, municipal, and transportation networks. Presentations will highlight how multi-resolution reality capture, lidar, UAV data, and predictive modeling are being used to create dynamic digital environments that support proactive maintenance, climate risk assessment, and long-term planning. Attendees will gain insights into how combining geospatial intelligence with real-time monitoring and analytics enables organizations to better understand system vulnerabilities, optimize operations, and prepare for future challenges.
The following presentations will be shared in this session:
Blending Reality Mapping Capture Methods for Living Digital Twins
Presented by Andrew Carey, Esri
This presentation will outline ETM’s deployment of low-altitude UAVs and ground-based techniques to generate a dynamic digital twin for Central Florida’s municipalities. The methodology integrates multi-resolution reality capture, including imagery and lidar, with GIS datasets to enable asset-specific decision support. The platform also incorporates real-time sensor data and autonomous vehicle inputs, providing stakeholders with a unified, web-accessible environment for project management and analysis.
Vegetation Risk and Energy Grid Resiliency: Practical Digital Twin Strategies
Presented by Greg Itzstein, Pointerra
Grid infrastructure across the United States is increasingly vulnerable to sustained wind events, necessitating an acceleration to analyze and predict the threat and impact of regional climate events. The Department of Energy, under the Grid Resilience and Climate Change Impacts (GRACI) program, is sponsoring a study in the Northeast led by Pointerra, combining utility and academic experience and expertise to construct predictive models to help support establishing industry-wide best practices for mitigating the likelihood and impact of vegetation-induced outages. Pointerra will present findings that the combination of high-resolution 3D remote sensing data, digital twins, unifying multiple utility managed infrastructure data sources and leading university modeling enables faster, more accurate, more prescriptive definition of risk to support per-asset level grid resiliency initiatives at network network-wide scales.
Advanced AI Solutions for Electric Utility Infrastructure Inspection
Presented by Russ Ellis, gNext Labs
This presentation explores the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and drone-based data collection in modernizing electric utility infrastructure inspections.
By integrating drone technology with advanced photogrammetry and cloud computing, utilities can perform inspections with greater efficiency, accuracy, and safety. A cloud-based platform generates high-resolution digital twins of infrastructure assets, enabling precise detection, quantification, and evaluation of defects across a wide range of asset types.
AI-powered analysis automates defect identification and supports scalable, data-driven assessments. This enhances the accuracy of evaluations and enables proactive maintenance strategies. Visualization of changes over time adds an additional layer of insight, strengthening long-term asset health monitoring.
Rather than replacing existing methods, this approach significantly enhances them. It improves asset management for both electric generation and distribution utilities, as well as their supporting engineering firms. The presentation will highlight real-world use cases to demonstrate the practical benefits and effectiveness of this technology.
Faster, Smarter, Better: Optimizing Indoor Mapping Workflows for Maximum Impact
Presented by Russell Hall and Brock Saylor, Langan Engineering
Indoor mapping is no longer a niche service—it is a critical need across industries, including education, healthcare, and data centers. As demand grows, so does the need for faster, smarter, and more scalable workflows that deliver accurate results without compromising security or efficiency. This presentation will focus on how SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) technology is revolutionizing indoor mapping workflows to meet these challenges head-on. Using real-world case studies, we will explore how Langan leverages the Leica BLK2GO handheld scanner with Cyclone 3DR’s floor plan extractor to optimize workflows, reduce costs, and deliver results in record time. In industries like K-12 education, where mapping must be completed during narrow access windows, the BLK2GO enables rapid data collection without the need for control points. Similarly, in data centers, hospitals, and other facilities, the ability to extract actionable deliverables such as 2D floor plans and 3D meshes within days of scanning provides a competitive edge. Whether you are a geospatial professional looking to expand your indoor mapping capabilities or a facility manager seeking innovative solutions, this session will provide actionable insights into how SLAM technology can help you work faster, smarter, and better.
