Smart Cities and Digital Twins in Lower Austria

SCiNDTiLA (Smart Cities and Digital Twins in Lower Austria) was a 30-month interdisciplinary research project funded by GFF Niederösterreich and jointly implemented by the University for Continuing Education Krems (UWK) and the University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten (USTP). The project addressed a critical research gap by investigating how smart city concepts and digital twin technologies can be transferred from large metropolitan environments to smaller-scale urban, peri-urban and non-urban contexts in Lower Austria. Grounded in Design Science Research and Socio-Technical Systems theory, the project established a transdisciplinary framework integrating scientific expertise, stakeholder knowledge and digital twin development. Through an Expert Roundtable involving 14 international experts from 10 countries, semi-structured interviews with municipal representatives, participatory workshops, and proof-of-concept implementations, SCiNDTiLA developed a transferable governance and simulation framework tailored to smaller municipalities. The project delivered a systematic literature review and state-of-the-art assessment, a conceptual smart city governance framework informed by 43 expert propositions, three digital twin Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) addressing real societal challenges in Lower Austria, stakeholder validation workshops, a policy roadmap for tackling societal challenges in smart cities and regions, and a sustainability strategy based on the GOFA framework. The results contribute both to the scientific discourse on smart governance and digital twins and to practical policy development for municipalities, regions and smart villages. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scindtila/