How Vancouver International Airport exploits spatial intelligence to help with mowing the grass (and why that’s important!)

Vancouver International Airport says it’s starting to gain significant operational help from a GIS-based digital twin that’s constantly refreshed and updated by a spatial data integration backbone.

According to a GIS (Geographic Information System) specialist working at the Airport, Carlos Silva, the twin is ensuring that teams delivering apps and services always have the most complete and up-to-date physical and location information at their fingertips.

The virtual full-scale data model also takes full advantage of the extensive use of APIs for real-time tracking of maintenance reports, work orders, and passenger movements.

It’s even been the basis for one of the first North American hubs to provide its indoor mapping data to Apple Maps - allowing visitors accurate on-site guidance, while for managers, things like LiDAR data translation are offering overall real-time insights into airport operations.

For Silva:

On a day-to-day basis, for most people the digital twin is ...