ABSTRACT. This study aims to find out the potential of Digital Twin (DT) technology in monitoring of smart infrastructure using flood control systems as an exemplar. As high rates and severities of climate disasters, especially floods, occur, there is a dire need to implement innovative monitoring models, which provide real-time situations, predict modeling, and multi-staged emergency response preparation. The project aims to understand to what extent the concept of digital twins integrated with Internet of Things sensors and real-time analytics may be used to make effective decisions to monitor floods, respond to them efficiently, and make decision-making regarding floods. The data was obtained by primary quantitative research carrying out a structured survey based on eight questions that were all meant to be closed-ended. The research results identified that the majority of the respondents recorded a high level of agreement in terms of measuring the degree to which digital twin systems are effective in enhancing the accuracy of flood prediction, real-time monitoring, and emergency response levels. The respondents also said that the system alerts were understandable and lead to effect better preparedness and mitigation impacts. Although there were certain issues connected with the scalability of the system and its support in the long run, in general, there was a high level of satisfaction with the technology. The merge of DTs with IoT was regarded as one of the strengths as it improved the capacity of the system to capture, analyze, and respond to real-time data on environment. Furthermore, digital twins assisted strategic emergency planning providing more information-driven and early decisions in case of floods.

Keywords: digital twin technology; smart infrastructure monitoring; flood control systems; real-time data analysis; IoT integration; emergency response; predictive simulation

How to cite: Erokhin, V., Burcea, Ș. G., and Nicolae, I. (2023). “Smart Infrastructure Monitoring Using Digital Twins: A Case Study of Flood Control Systems,” Smart Governance 2(4): 7–21. doi: 10.22381/sg2420231.

Received 14 July 2023 • Received in revised form 21 December 2023
Accepted 26 December 2023 • Available online 28 December 2023