The community of Haar has a digital twin. It is intended to streamline administrative processes and, above all, bring added value for citizens. Bavaria's digital minister praised this.
Haar – The collection terminal for ID cards in Haar is currently not much more than a well-intentioned offer. It will be accepted, says Mayor Andreas Bukowski (CSU), "but due to additional bureaucracy you have to fill out so many forms by hand that it is ultimately quicker to pick up your document from the clerk's office." It's easier if you wants to find his final resting place in the future. You no longer have to walk through the rows in the forest cemetery yourself, but can choose your grave with a click of the mouse, specifying the row and grave number. Green signals “available”, the red boxes indicate graves that are already occupied. With another click on the digital tree you can also choose your place under a beech, Japanese carnation cherry or oak. Thanks to the digital twin.
The virtual hair is a three-dimensional representation of the municipal area that the Office for Innovation, Economic Development and Central Services has built. Buildings, streets, building plans, but also playgrounds with details of the play equipment, public facilities and leisure activities with opening times are fed in. Also included is the tree population including tree species, all public transport stops with route descriptions, parking spaces, car sharing stations and e-charging stations. Bavaria's Digital Minister Fabian Mehring (FW) was impressed when Haar presented him with last year's results: “This is the step towards digitalization. Not only is it being talked about, but something is also being done.”
“We want to carry the models and findings forward”
As part of the “Smart City” project, Haar is focusing on “intelligent mobility”, a pilot project from Mehring’s house called “TwinBy”, which supports 17 individual digital projects in Bavaria. In Leibstrasse, sensors at the roundabout and at the junction with Wasserburger Landstrasse record real-time data about the time at which a truck or car is driving on Leibstrasse. This data serves as a basis for better controlling traffic flows, simulating and reducing emissions. Mehring has already announced a continuation of the project, which ended in March of this year, because “we want to continue to use the models and findings so that other municipalities can also benefit.”
For the minister, Haar is a model community, on the right path to becoming a modern municipality that “seizes the once-in-a-century opportunity that arises from digitalization”. Because it is not an end in itself, but “digitalization is there to improve people’s lives and to offer added value.” Mehring sees a mission of his ministry as a joint task between the Free State and the “municipal family” in order to achieve this for the next five to “Being ahead” for ten years. The shortage of skilled workers and the retirement of the baby boomer generation in the coming years make it essential “to digitize and automate everything that is possible in the next ten years”. This goal can only be achieved if you have the courage to examine every administrative process and “get rid of what you don’t need”. Haar's digital twin is a step into this future.