Victoria has announced it will spend $A35.2 million to develop Digital Twin Victoria - a data-based digital replica of the state.

Minister for Planning Richard Wynne said the project  will transform planning and unlock efficiencies from the start to finish of infrastructure projects, helping to drive the state’s economic recovery.

Digital twins bring data and information together to create digital representations of the real world, whether that be bricks and mortar, utilities infrastructure, farmland or cities.

Planners, engineers and builders will be able to use Digital Twin Victoria to model different project scenarios, testthe feasibility of proposals, troubleshoot potential issues, and share complex information across sectors and workplaces more easily.

The funding announcement follows the appointment of CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, as the Government’s partner to develop the online platform which will host Victoria’s digital twin.

Digital Twin Victoria builds on a successful pilot project that created a digital twin for Australia’s largest urban renewal project, Fishermans Bend.

The platform is expected to be widely accessible by late 2021.

“Once this platform is established, real-time data can be collected at an astonishing rate and absorbed into the Digital Twin to support informed planning decisions and share important information with communities,” said Wynne

“With the convergence of big data and advanced technology, Digital Twin Victoria will enable us to do in minutes and days things that used to take weeks, months and even years.