DIGITAL URBAN LTD

Digital Urban Models & Digital Twins

Our 3D digital models (Digital Twins) support Local Authorities as they make informed decisions during the urban planning process. Our Digital Twins and fun immersive VR events are proven to improve participation during consultation on projects ranging from Design Code finalisation, Active Travel & local planning.

Features

• 3D Visualisation of Place to support planning decisions
• Scalable from building, high street, town, city or borough
• Intuitive navigation and control
• Compatible with multiple data sources such as Lidar and APIs
• Easy to export to image/videos
• Multiple data layers fed from Open data sources
• Easy and Low cost options to keep the model current
• Managed Service aligns to your Planning process
• Quality Assurance throughout the process
• Full roadmap that is aligning to PLANX & national standards

Benefits

• Enables better design decisions faster & reduces lifecycle cost
• Easy to upload and remove new designs for assessment
• Platform cost is scalable to the resources you need
• Product roadmap Aligned to National Agendas (e.g. Planning Reform)
• Scalable cost: Grow Digital Twin from High Street to Borough
• Proven Participation across wide range of demographic
• Data Ownership retained by client
• Option for a fully managed service
• Meet your participation targets
• Formats presentable at Planning Meetings for executive decisions

£3,000 to £15,000 an instance

• Education pricing available
• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at simon.mabey@digitalurban.place. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

543991870907977

Contact

simon mabey
07557414824
simon.mabey@digitalurban.place

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Public cloud
• Service constraints: Digital Urban has planned maintenance on a quarterly basis but these are scheduled to be outside of core business hours for our clients.
• System requirements: Standard Browser Access

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Support Hours are 9-5 Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays) . Additional ad hoc support can be supplied on request to support client events such as high profile planning meetings.; Response times to issues during support hours are; Critical system or Data issues - 4 hours otherwise within 1 working day.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: None or don’t know
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: No
• Support levels: The annual licence includes a standard support package that is the support desk where incidents can be raised by phone or email. A quarterly service review is held held with a technical account manager. This review looks back at past performance and invokes any corrective actions, or forwards any complaints "nice words". It also looks forwards by sharing any strategic change to the service, and recording any additional requirements raised by the client.; If the Managed Service is purchased then the client engages on a bi-weekly basis to review new models that are being presented on the Digital Twin
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Digital Urban has a tried and tested methodology to deliver to live service.; We work with the clients Data Protection Officer to ensure that they are satisfied that all Data protection risks are surfaced and managed via a DPIA (Data Privacy Impact Assessment). As there is little/no personal data on the system our methodology allows us to complete this stage efficiently.; Then we work with the IT Department to ensure that access to the service is enabled from their network. This typically requires 1 small workshop and some small follow on activities.; We usually advocate that at least one member of staff is the super-user / champion of the service as this helps embed the service and gibves a central point of contact. Once access is enabled for all the users up to 2 days of training is provided with the onboarding process. This includes specialist training for the planning team. A tried and tested training script is followed so that all the features are demonstrated. The sessions are recorded (subject to consent) and shared back so they have an ongoing point of reference. Guidelines are also provided in document format. ; A demonstration is also given for other stakeholders.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: Digital Urban requires a client to raise a request for their data to be extracted. This request will be processed and delivered in a machine readable format. This would be a chargeable service according to our rate card.; Should the client wish that Digital Urban deletes the client data then a data destruction certificate will be created after the event. This would be a chargeable service according to our rate card. Digital Urba retains a write to use the 3D data for their services. But would not sell or pass on the 3D data without permission
• End-of-contract process: Data ownership is retained with the client. The client will request the data and that will be made available to them in a machine readable format. This would be a chargeable service according to our rate card. Access to the system however is disabled if they choose not to continue the licence. Data pertaining to user logon would be deleted subject to the digital urban retention policy.; Should the client wish that Digital Urban deletes the client data then a data destruction certificate will be created after the event. This would be a chargeable service based on rate card charges. ; There is no software to de-install on client devices. Digital Urba retains a write to use the 3D data for their services. But would not sell or pass on the 3D data without permission.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: Database information can be easily accessed via mobile, and 3D model viewing is also possible, however, the Digital Twin 3D models are easier to navigate with a keyboard, mouse or gamepad.
• Service interface: No
• User support accessibility: None or don’t know
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: API for the model database using geojson. This is easy to access and use.
• API documentation: No
• API sandbox or test environment: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: The number of users and their permissions rights can be edited. Branding / white labeling is also possible.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: Digital Urban is a growing organisation that hosts Digital Twins for a number of clients as managed services. Alongside this we have a portfolio of varied projects including R&D. We have an established team of modellers who work in adopting the AGILE methodology and a common set of processes and standards (working methods). This allows us to manage demand. Our portfolio is managed through MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) disciplines . This allows us to manage supply against demand. Its also key to us that the our customer relationship allows clients to inform us of priorities that we will support.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: For all users we provide Service reviews on a quarterly basis and include ; Number of incidents by date;; Number of incidents resolved in SLA;; Number of incidents not resolved in SLA;; Platform Utilisation time;; Cost of platform utilisation;; For the managed service we share ongoing data on progress of new planning applications; Count of models received for processing;; Count of models uploaded to the platform;; Quality Assurance metrics
• Reporting types: Regular reports

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Up to Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Managed by a third party
• Penetration testing frequency: Less than once a year
• Penetration testing approach: In-house
• Protecting data at rest: Encryption of all physical media
• Data sanitisation process: No
• Equipment disposal approach: A third-party destruction service

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: A user can export parts of the Digital Twin to videos and images, but they cannot export their data.
• Data export formats: Other
• Other data export formats: FBX, DAE for 3D / CSV for database
• Data import formats: Other
• Other data import formats: FBX

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: TLS (version 1.2 or above)
• Data protection within supplier network: TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: The service is available 9-5 on a working day. If there is an unplanned outage (unavailability) there will be a 4 hour target for resolution of the critical issue.; Digital Urban will do its utmost to avoid working hours for any planned outage. If this is unavoidable then Digital Urban will discuss the outage and its impact on the client. ; If unavailability lasts for greater than 4 hours then a Digital Urban will discuss with the client whether a credit can be given against next years licence fee.
• Approach to resilience: The Digital Twin is built on best practice technology as SaaS on AWS. The application is developed with twelve factor architecture. Monitoring of the system is enabled and there are regular maintenance activities. The modelling team all work to common standards and practices to avoid changes and new models adversely affecting the service
• Outage reporting: Emails are sent to our clients if there is any unplanned outage.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication: Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: The ethos of Digital Urban's products is that they are open and data is public. That being said, the system architecture adopts role based access controls, and specifically an administration layer that allows privileged activities. Typically access is standard user and administration layered at this point.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication: Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: User-defined
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: User-defined

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: No
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: No
• Security governance approach: Security governance is embedded into the organisation. We engage a specialist cyber provider to deliver a bespoke solution that supports us at many levels of governance:-; Review of Operations services /platform to mitigate any threats; Offering insight into cyber landscape to influence our roadmaps; penetration testing.; Advising and shaping the organisations plan, prioritising activities towards Cyber certification.
• Information security policies and processes: Digital Urban has an information security policy that is advised by our information security specialist provider and that is approved by the Director responsible for Information Security. The policy is restricted to internal use only.; System Changes or new client requirements are assessed against the policy.; Roles and privileges are assessed against the policy .; Maintenance of systems and monitoring are performed according to the policy.; The policy is reviewed at least annually or if any significant change is advised by our specialist provider.; Our Quality Management System ensures that our processes are documented and checks are made to ensure they are followed. Our processes reflect the policy.; There is a separate Data protection policy and with every project we perform a Data Protection Impact assessment to ensure that the data is classified to be managed according to policy.; All staff undergo training

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Digital Urban adopts AGILE methodology. Changes are recorded on a backlog and then added to a Kanban board as they are progressed through to development, QA and go live. Our team use a common development process to maintain good standards. Changes are version controlled using a COTS product. This allows all changes to be traceable. ; Typically, Digital Urban is not required to process personal/sensitive data as part of its services, however with every new project a full Data Protection Impact Assessment is taken to assess and then mitigate any security risks.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: Our platform includes virus protection that we keep up to date, alongside monitoring for new threats. Our Cyber partner is aware of the technical stack we operate and advises on new threats so that we can take action. Thereafter Digital Urban performs a risk assessment and will either wait until the next maintenance slot (quarterly) or schedule an upgrade at the earliest possible time.; We monitor supplier websites to determine if there are new threats
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: Digital Urban has a well defined architecture , where software, software version and security patch level are documented.; We monitor supplier websites on a regular basis to determine if there are new threats to our systems.; if there is an issue then we perform root cause analysis to determine next steps. that may include restricting parts of the service until a permanent fix can be deployed. ; Upon determining an issue an action plan will be put in place, that will be agreed by the Executive and then an upgrade instigated. Typically this would be a few hours.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: The process adopted is based on ITIL standards but using simple tools like spreadsheets to store the correct information about the incident. ; Users typically email their incidents following guidance that explains the information that we require .Phone submission is also allowed. Any common patterns, recurring issues will have a corrective action plan.; Incident reports are created prior to every service review and these are discussed with the client .

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Conforms to a recognised standard, but self-assessed

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  Digital Urban changed its Social Values policy in 2022 and created the following Climate Change statement :; "The Digital Urban Platform is fed from data that can be collected from a number of sources. Aerial photography offers many benefits to our clients (offering the best possible high resolution) and the impact of the carbon footprint is recognised by Digital Urban. Going forward, Digital Urban will reduce carbon emissions and the impact on the climate by utilising Ordnance Survey aerial data and Lidar data wherever possible. Where this is less accurate than data that can be captured from a flight we will supplement by other methods e.g. low/no emission drones to capture more local data.; Where an aerial flight is unavoidable will capture as much data as possible on the flight path even if it is deemed speculative photography for models not yet requested and at cost to Digital Urban."; ; Digital Urban has lived by that statement and has indeed utilised Lidar data for many of the new models rather than flights.

  Covid-19 recovery

  The Kickstart Scheme was one of the government’s flagship employment programmes to help young people in the wake of the economic downturn caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The scheme provided funding to create new jobs for 16- to 24-year-olds on Universal Credit who were at risk of long-term unemployment. Funding applied to jobs starting between September 2020 to the end of March 2022. ; ; Digital Urban participated in this programme and a few years on the majority are still employed with the organisation and are talented, skilled professionals.

  Tackling economic inequality

  Whenever Digital Urban delivers a Virtual Reality Event for a Local Authority, or private sector client we build in features so that we can take the event to schools in the area as designated by our client. Typically these are inner city schools that may not have had any exposure to digital events & in line with STEM strategy.; Working with the school staff we provide workbooks and a safe environment for them to experience the technology and their participation is proven to be influential in the project through their feedback. One example is children giving feedback on the local plans for the areas around their their school. ; The feedback we have received is invariably positive, giving the children enthusiasm for the technology, feeling proud of their input and being heard. ; Overall we have data that demonstrates that our immersive events gives a from young to old and across the social spectrum a voice in consultation events.

  Equal opportunity

  Digital Urban is an SME at the cutting edge of technology. It relies on on a skilled technical workforce comprising of traditional digital technologies, but also gaming software. ; Digital Urban supported the Governments Kickstarter scheme and enrolled a number of graduates many of whom are still with the company and are now employed on permanent contracts delivering our products.; Our team is diverse is supported by HR policies for which they receive induction and training, and performance reviews. ; Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified.

  Wellbeing

  Wellbeing; ; The Digital Urban Well being Statement is as follows; ; "Digital Urban recognises that its products assist participation, and the planning process in general and good urban planning contributes to the wellbeing of citizens.; Our strategic roadmap will advance the product and services to align to the Building for a Healthy Life guidelines with features that will better enable assessment of developments and masterplans either through visualisation or automation. "; ; Since writing this statement Digital Urban has a number of projects under its belt related to improving design principles for local plans ie improving the spaces we occupy.

Pricing

• Price: £3,000 to £15,000 an instance
• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: With agreement from an existing client, we will provide access to another LA environment to provide an insight into the product. Typically, clients discuss and share knowledge to support the ongoing development of the product.

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at simon.mabey@digitalurban.place. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.