LEAP Tech Conference 2023

Picture Above: KAUST Digital Twin setup at Leap 2023
Pictures Below: Maha Alsabban, Otavio Jose Dezem Bertozzi Junior, Mohammed Ilies Ayachi, Prof. Shehab Ahmed at LEAP 2023.

MERGE Group participated in the LEAP Tech Conference from 6-9 February 2023 in Riyadh. Leap Tech Conference is a global platform for future technologies where pioneering technology professionals worldwide convene to network and share innovations. It was an exciting four-days conference where we showcased innovative ideas on Digital Twin Cities. 

As the Kingdom has embraced metaverse technologies like city-scale digital twins. A digital twin is a virtual representation that serves as the real-time digital counterpart of a physical object or process. City-scale digital twins are a key component of future predictive, smart, and sustainable cities. The Kingdom has launched an ambitious Quality of Life Program as part of Vision 2030. The program aims to improve the individual and families' quality of life by creating the necessary environment to develop and support new livable and lifestyle options in Saudi Arabia. These options will bolster the participation of citizens, residents and visitors in cultural, entertainment, sports, tourism, and other related activities that nurture their quality of life. Such options will have their own economic and social impact by creating jobs, diversifying economic activity, and consequently boosting Saudi cities' ranking amongst the world's top livable cities. KAUST's Cities:OS digital twin platform embraces this challenge with a city-scale behavioral twin-of-twins model with fully tunable metrics and physics, driven by statistical data and IoT information streams. The KAUST Digital Twin aims to showcase this capability by capitalizing on KAUST's living lab approach. 

Our booth at the conference met with a huge turnout, and visitors had the opportunity to learn about applications of city and behavioral models of digital twins; such as traffic planning, energy management, evacuation planning.