National LDT App Store: What it is and why it works
The National (Member State) LDT Appstore is a trusted catalog layer that makes building blocks for Local Digital Twins (LDTs) discoverable, comparable, and reusable. Think of datasets, data and geoservices, simulation models, workflows, dashboards, and 3D visualizations. It's definitely not an "app store" with standalone software, but a standards-based overview with rich metadata, interoperability claims, and quality and trust signals. This allows governments, businesses, and civil society organizations to quickly develop, test, purchase, and scale solutions—without constantly reinventing the wheel.
The App Store also forms a national "link" to Europe: it connects to the EU Local Digital Twin Toolbox and supports federated discovery ("no wrong door"), so that assets remain consistently discoverable locally, nationally and across Europe.
The role of twinlink.eu: governance first, technology second
TwinLink.eu helps regional parties jointly manage a single shared reality: with clear rules for fair data sharing and practical tools, enabling collaborative decision-making and implementation across sectors. The goal is to be an international organization that safeguards the trust and interests of stakeholders locally, regionally, nationally, and across Europe, and manages fair, transparent rules for data use – based on existing standards and frameworks.
Examples of such frameworks include DigiGO/DSGO, ILS-WoCo, DICO/ETIM, IFC, EU building blocks such as INSPIRE and Local Digital Twins, key registers such as BAG/BGT/IMGeo, and initiatives like PRE-MADONA. Together, these form the "language" and the framework for sharing data securely and reusably.
Once the rules are clear, the technology can handle two core components:
- Regional SPoT (Shared Point of Truth): a single harmonised source with agreed inputs, definitions and quality rules.
- Common Workspace: the place to analyse, simulate, make decisions and collaborate in the chain (including scenarios, dashboards and working arrangements).
From that moment on, all links in the chain can collaborate based on the same, up-to-date and reliable information, with linked processes that accelerate implementation and enable reuse.