Hesham Gamal Gaafar on Digital Twins in Smart Cities and Infrastructure: Where the Real Value Comes From

🎯 **In this episode:** Hesham Gamal Gaafar, Manager of Digital Twin, Smart Cities and AEC at Esri Saudi Arabia, joins Net Zero Compare to discuss how digital twins are being applied across cities, infrastructure, construction, and asset management, and what organizations need to consider before investing in the technology. The conversation explores what actually distinguishes a digital twin from a 3D model, BIM environment, or GIS platform. Hesham explains that the defining feature is the connection between a digital representation and its physical counterpart, allowing the digital environment to reflect what is happening in the real world. Depending on the use case, that synchronization may happen in real time, near real time, or at scheduled intervals. The episode also looks at where digital twins can generate the strongest business value. Hesham highlights the operational phase of buildings and infrastructure, where digital twins can support energy optimization, maintenance, asset management, natural resource management, and more informed operational decisions over assets that may remain in use for decades. Sustainability is another key theme. Digital twins can help organizations test design alternatives, reduce reliance on physical prototypes, monitor energy-consuming systems, and improve responses to infrastructure problems such as water leaks. Their environmental value comes from helping teams understand conditions more clearly and make faster, better-informed decisions. Hesham also discusses one of the biggest barriers to successful implementation: data interoperability. Digital twins often depend on BIM, GIS, sensors, IoT systems, imagery, operational databases, and asset management platforms working together. Without clear data standards, governance, ownership, and maintenance processes, organizations can end up with fragmented systems and unreliable information. The conversation also explores the growing role of AI in digital twins, including predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, traffic optimization, scenario analysis, and infrastructure planning. However, Hesham emphasizes that these capabilities are only as useful as the data supporting them. Strong data governance and interoperability therefore remain essential foundations for effective AI adoption. A key takeaway is that organizations should start with the problem they are trying to solve rather than the technology they want to deploy. Defining business requirements, data needs, ownership, and standards first can help avoid unnecessary complexity and ensure that digital twins and AI deliver practical value rather than simply following technology trends. 🔗 **Read the full article:** https://netzerocompare.com/podcasts/net-zero-compare-podcast/hesham-gamal-gaafar-digital-twin 📍 **Guest:** Hesham Gamal Gaafar, Manager of Digital Twin, Smart Cities and AEC at Esri Saudi Arabia https://www.linkedin.com/in/hggaafar/?locale=ar 🎙 **Interview by:** Karol Kaczmarek, Co-Founder of Net Zero Compare https://www.linkedin.com/in/karol-kaczmarek-39a29651/ #HeshamGamalGaafar #DigitalTwins #SmartCities #BIM #GIS #ArtificialIntelligence #Infrastructure #AssetManagement #Sustainability #AEC #NetZero #NetZeroCompare \*\** At Net Zero Compare, we deliver clear, data-backed insights for decision-makers navigating ESG reporting, net-zero compliance, and clean energy adoption. 🌐 https://netzerocompare.com 📩 Contact us: [info@netzerocompare.com](mailto:info@netzerocompare.com) 📚 Explore the Academy: https://netzerocompare.com/academy 📰 Read more insights: https://netzerocompare.com/articles