1001 Smart Cities
🇦🇺 Sydney

NSW Spatial Digital Twin

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 7 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

7 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

✎ Corrected 5 Oct 2026 1 source added. · 2 revisions in all What changed →

Launched over Western Sydney in 2020, NSW's public 3D/4D twin expanded across eight council areas and replaced SIX Maps in 2025.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🏛️ Official
what does this mean?The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byNSW Department of Customer Service – Spatial Services, with CSIRO's Data61
Scale🗺️ Regional

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,216 documented projects · 🏙️ 7 more in Sydney · 🪞 Digital twin guide · 📡 Data & IoT projects

NSW's Department of Customer Service launched a public 3D/4D digital twin in February 2020, first mapping Western Sydney's buildings, terrain, property boundaries and utilities with CSIRO's Data61. It grew to eight Western Sydney council areas, then a rebuilt viewer, SDT Explorer, replaced the state's SIX Maps portal in May 2025.

Live 📅 since 2020

📊 Impact

Received 18 million requests for 3D datasets in the 12 months before the state announced a $40 million expansion in December 2021; a rebuilt public viewer, SDT Explorer, replaced the state's SIX Maps portal on 1 May 2025.

🎓 Lesson

Rather than keep the twin as a separate showcase, NSW folded it into the map viewer people already used: SDT Explorer combines the old SIX Maps tools with the digital twin's 3D view, and SIX Maps was retired on 1 May 2025.

📡 Data & IoTDigital twinGIS & cadastreOpen data

Sources

↗ iTnews — NSW spatial digital twin goes livePublished 24 February 2020 archived copyLaunch date, operator, initial Western Sydney coverage.
↗ iTnews — NSW gov puts $40m towards statewide digital twinPublished 3 December 2021 archived copyIndependent confirmation of funding and statewide rollout plan.
↗ Institution of Surveyors NSW — SDT Explorer to replace SIX MapsPublished 14 April 2025 archived copyConfirms platform is live and actively rebuilt as of May 2025.
↗ IT Pro — New South Wales plans to create a digital twin of the entire state (3 Dec 2021)Reports the $40 million statewide expansion and that the platform had received 18 million requests for 3D datasets in the previous 12 months across eight high-growth council areas.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2020. 4 of 4 sources carry a publication date, from 24 February 2020 to 14 April 2025.

When the sources were published

  1. iTnews · pressiTnews — NSW spatial digital twin goes live
  2. iTnews · pressiTnews — NSW gov puts $40m towards statewide digital twin
  3. IT Pro — New South Wales plans to create a digital twin of the entire state (3 Dec 2021)
  4. Institution of Surveyors NSW · industry associationInstitution of Surveyors NSW — SDT Explorer to replace SIX Maps

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Entered the record
  2. Publication date recorded for 5 sources
  3. 1 source added
  4. Sources last read

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 7 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence file · public beta 7 addressable claims, 4 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The file is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 7

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-79bd501aebf73883 quantitative
NSW's Department of Customer Service launched a public 3D/4D digital twin in February 2020, first mapping Western Sydney's buildings, terrain, property boundaries and utilities with CSIRO's Data61.
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
iTnews dates the launch to 24 February 2020, identifies NSW Spatial Services and Data61, describes public access and lists buildings, terrain, property boundaries and utilities in the Western Sydney 4D model.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. iTnews — NSW spatial digital twin goes live
Claim 2 clm-42cf40cfd20f5a51 quantitative
It grew to eight Western Sydney council areas, then a rebuilt viewer, SDT Explorer, replaced the state's SIX Maps portal in May 2025.
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The NSW Government announcement reports coverage across eight Western Sydney councils; the Institution of Surveyors NSW states that SIX Maps retired and SDT Explorer launched on 1 May 2025.
Caveat
The official NSW announcement could not be fetched automatically in this pass; its mapped figures remain unreviewed.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. IT Pro — New South Wales plans to create a digital twin of the entire state (3 Dec 2021)
  2. Institution of Surveyors NSW — SDT Explorer to replace SIX Maps
Claim 3 clm-aed78c1a712a878f quantitative
Received 18 million requests for 3D datasets in the 12 months before the state announced a $40 million expansion in December 2021
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The NSW Government announcement reports 18 million requests for 3D datasets during the stated 12-month period.
Caveat
Operator-reported usage, not an independently audited outcome; the source could not be fetched automatically in this pass.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. IT Pro — New South Wales plans to create a digital twin of the entire state (3 Dec 2021)
Claim 4 clm-c6a8490f2e68dc8e quantitative
a rebuilt public viewer, SDT Explorer, replaced the state's SIX Maps portal on 1 May 2025.
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The Institution of Surveyors NSW states that DCS Spatial Services retired SIX Maps and launched SDT Explorer on 1 May 2025.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Institution of Surveyors NSW — SDT Explorer to replace SIX Maps
Claim 5 clm-7e6f00a4a7aebf4a descriptive
Rather than keep the twin as a separate showcase, NSW folded it into the map viewer people already used
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Spatial Services retired SIX Maps and launched SDT Explorer, which integrates features from both SIX Maps and the NSW Digital Twin Visualisation Service.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Institution of Surveyors NSW — SDT Explorer to replace SIX Maps
Claim 6 clm-42fe9d71acdef8f0 quantitative
SDT Explorer combines the old SIX Maps tools with the digital twin's 3D view
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The notice says SDT Explorer integrates SIX Maps and the Digital Twin Visualisation Service, with an improved 3D environment and measurement tools.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Institution of Surveyors NSW — SDT Explorer to replace SIX Maps
Claim 7 clm-f28e054b1078b618 quantitative
SIX Maps was retired on 1 May 2025
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
DCS Spatial Services would retire SIX Maps on Thursday 1 May 2025.
Caveat
Announced in advance (April 2025); later state notices describe SDT Explorer as having replaced SIX Maps in May 2025.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Institution of Surveyors NSW — SDT Explorer to replace SIX Maps
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-10-05-p4-quality-run effective 2026-10-05 · created 2026-10-05

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:8df81aae4c64bb93bfd091a48ec4c8ce1c1d21b8771d077a47e3d23edb5589d6
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
7
of 7 claims mapped
4
source dossiers
4
publication dates recorded
3
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
NSW Department of Customer Service – Spatial Services, with CSIRO's Data61
Actor types
regional-government, research
Funding model
public
Funding description
Not recorded
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

4 source dossiers

iTnews — NSW spatial digital twin goes live itnews.com.au · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-b9f91ea56a585b03
Publisher
Name not classified · itnews.com.au
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2020-02-24
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-05
Dossier created
2026-10-05
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
Open archived copy ↗ · 2026-05-21
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Launch date, operator, initial Western Sydney coverage.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
iTnews — NSW gov puts $40m towards statewide digital twin itnews.com.au · background

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-b1bb03c33e981348
Publisher
Name not classified · itnews.com.au
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2021-12-03
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-05
Dossier created
2026-10-05
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
Open archived copy ↗ · 2026-03-12
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Independent confirmation of funding and statewide rollout plan.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Background source; no baseline claim points here
Institution of Surveyors NSW — SDT Explorer to replace SIX Maps surveyors.org.au · 5 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-ce8bf62a372d8404
Publisher
Name not classified · surveyors.org.au
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-04-14
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-05
Dossier created
2026-10-05
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
Open archived copy ↗ · 2025-12-01
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Confirms platform is live and actively rebuilt as of May 2025.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
IT Pro — New South Wales plans to create a digital twin of the entire state (3 Dec 2021) itpro.com · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-ba49bfbe0f34c0ee
Publisher
Name not classified · itpro.com
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2021-12-03
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-10-05
Dossier created
2026-10-05
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Reports the $40 million statewide expansion and that the platform had received 18 million requests for 3D datasets in the previous 12 months across eight high-growth council areas.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this file
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇳🇿 Wellington Digital Twin · Wellington Both public 3D twins for planning, at very different scale: Wellington covers one city, NSW's twin a whole basin. 🇳🇱 Rotterdam Municipal Digital Twin · Rotterdam Same trap avoided twice: Rotterdam's port and city twins get conflated in press; NSW's twin is one state platform, not two. 🇦🇺 Smart City Strategic Framework · Sydney NSW's own digital twin platform, live since 2020, is the tool actually building the citywide twin this framework only begins.

Explore the wider context

🏙️ Urban digital twins compared📖 Digital twin📖 Building performance standard (BPS)📖 GTFS (General Transit Feed Specification)
📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “NSW Spatial Digital Twin” — Sydney, Australia. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/sydney-digital-twin/ (last verified 2026-10-05). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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