India and ITU Collaborate on AI-Driven Digital Twin Technologies for Infrastructure Planning

India and ITU Sign Pact to Drive AI, Digital Twins, and IMT-2030 Innovations

AI-driven digital twin technologies to revolutionize infrastructure planning. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to drive joint initiatives in cutting-edge technologies, including digital twins, AI-driven solutions, virtual worlds, and IMT-2030 advancements. The agreement also focuses on promoting the development of global standards, fostering sustainable development through shared frameworks, and promoting citizen engagement in urban and infrastructure planning. Also Read: Govt Looking to Ensure 100 Mbps Per Customer With 6G: Report "Neeraj Mittal, Secretary (Telecom), Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India, embarked on an official visit to Geneva today to further strengthen India's global digital leadership and deepen engagements with key international stakeholders in the telecommunication sector," the Ministry of Communications announced on February 17, 2025. According to the Communications Ministry, Mittal held high-level discussions with ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, reaffirming India's commitment to digital inclusion and innovation. "Key focus areas of discussion included India's leadership in 5G/6G technologies, AI for Digital Transformation, cybersecurity frameworks, and ITU's Partner2Connect initiative aimed at bridging the global digital divide. India also reiterated its pledge to support ITU's initiatives by contributing to global connectivity projects and skill development programs." India also proposed to host the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2030, which received a positive response, with further deliberations planned at the upcoming ITU Council Meeting. Also Read: India to Operate Entirely on 5G by 2026, Developing Indigenous 6G: Report According to the Ministry, the collaboration marks a paradigm shift in telecom from connectivity to intelligence-driven infrastructure planning. The Department of Telecommunications noted that mobile communication technologies are evolving beyond traditional connectivity to become essential platforms for innovative infrastructure planning. "By seamlessly integrating AI, Digital Twins, and real-time, ubiquitous connectivity into a unified ecosystem, these technologies generate pervasive intelligence, enabling open, interconnected systems that fundamentally transform how infrastructure is planned, collaborated on, and executed across critical sectors like transport, urban development, and healthcare. These advancements enable infrastructure planning to be more dynamic, adaptive, and sustainable, benefiting all sectors," the communications ministry said. "The collaboration through the LoI marks a significant shift in the telecom sector's role -- evolving from simply providing connectivity to becoming a platform that delivers accurate, reliable, and insightful data for infrastructure planning," the ministry added. "It opens up opportunities to explore innovative business models, enabling a new ecosystem to deliver scalable, data-driven, and knowledge- based solutions across industries, driving sustainable growth and shaping the future of infrastructure." Also Read: Fastest 5G Rollout Globally Highlights India's Technological Prowess in Telecom: Economic Survey Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Building - Leveraging insights from India's Sangam initiative and ITU's Citiverse for integrated urban planning. Global Standards Development - Contributing to ITU-T Study Group 20 on IoT, APIs, digital twins, and smart cities. Sandbox Environments - Creating testbeds for digital twin technologies and regulatory innovations. Citizen Engagement - Using AI-powered platforms to engage citizens in real-time urban planning and infrastructure development, enhancing participatory governance and collaborative decision-making. Privacy and AI Integration - Advancing privacy-enhancing techniques (PETs) and country-specific AI models for urban mobility. AI Model Integration for Digital Twins - Customising AI models using country-specific datasets to deliver context-sensitive solutions for infrastructure development and urban mobility challenges.

DoT Partners With ITU To Foster Digital Twin, AI-Driven Innovations

India will also partner with ITU-T Study Group 20 to develop global standards and APIs for Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins, and smart cities The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to foster collaboration on cutting-edge technologies like AI-driven solutions, digital twins, virtual worlds, and IMT-2030 technologies. The partnership will also focus on developing global standards for interoperability, advancing sustainable development, and promoting citizen-centric urban planning frameworks, the telecom department said in a statement. Under the pact, the DoT will share insights from its Sangam initiative and ITU will provide findings from its Citiverse programme. The organisations will work together to integrate data across sectors and promote collaborative planning. Notably, Sangam and Citiverse are digital twin programmes launched by DoT and ITU, respectively, for infrastructure planning and design, education and municipality use. Digital twins are virtual replicas of physical assets like city maps or buildings, which can be integrated with AI and real-time mobile data. They are emerging as transformative tools for urban development, transport, and healthcare. India will also partner with ITU-T Study Group 20 to develop global standards and APIs for Internet of Things (IoT), digital twins, and smart cities. The collaboration will also create sandbox environments to test new digital twin technologies, pilot cutting-edge projects, and adjust regulatory frameworks to accommodate technological progress. Further, AI-driven platforms will be employed to engage citizens in real-time urban planning, encouraging participatory governance and improving decision-making. Both parties will also share knowledge on privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) and their use in ICT measurement, particularly to build privacy-conscious digital twins for urban planning. Additionally, India and ITU will work on developing AI models tailored to local datasets, offering customised solutions for infrastructure planning and addressing urban mobility challenges. Notably, launched in February 2024 by the DoT, "Sangam: Digital Twin initiative," aims at leveraging 5G/6D, IoT, AI, AR/VR technologies for building smart infrastructure. This came after the Indian government pushed for the use of the "National Digital Twin" programme in the national geospatial policy in 2023. Under the National Digital Twin programme, the government is creating a platform for sharing data and insight of all infrastructure sectors.

DoT and ITU Collaborate on AI-Driven Digital Twin Technologies

The signed LoI will also support PhD students in carrying out research in telecom technologies. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) of India signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on Monday to enhance infrastructure planning through AI-driven digital twin technologies. The agreement was finalised during DoT secretary Neeraj Mittal's official visit to Geneva, which was aimed at reinforcing India's role in global digital connectivity. DoT expressed on X that the LoI also intends to support PhD students in carrying out research in telecom technologies, ultimately empowering Indian researchers to drive global innovation. The collaboration will focus on several key areas, including the integration of AI solutions and digital twins into infrastructure frameworks, the development of global standards for interoperability, and the promotion of sustainable urban planning practices. In the official statement, Mittal said, "This partnership marks a significant shift in the telecom sector's role, evolving from providing connectivity to delivering data-driven insights for infrastructure planning." Meetings held between Mittal and ITU secretary-general Doreen Bogdan-Martin emphasised India's commitment to advancing 5G and 6G technologies and addressing the global digital divide through ITU's Partner2Connect initiative. India also proposed to host the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in 2030, a proposal that received positive feedback and will be further discussed at the upcoming ITU Council Meeting. The LoI outlines initiatives for knowledge sharing and capacity building between DoT's Sangam project and ITU's Citiverse program. Additionally, it aims to create sandbox environments for testing new technologies and engaging citizens in urban planning through AI platforms. This partnership is expected to foster innovative business models and scalable solutions across critical sectors such as transportation, urban development, and healthcare. In December last year, American telecommunications company Verizon also announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to deliver a solution enabling AI applications to operate on Verizon's 5G private network with mobile edge computing (MEC). In this partnership, Verizon's secure 5G infrastructure and private MEC will be integrated with NVIDIA AI Enterprise software and NVIDIA NIM microservices. According to the company, demonstrations of this solution are scheduled to begin early next year. This stressed how generative AI is becoming a cornerstone of digital transformation and business growth.