FHWA CO-SPONSORSHIP THROUGH A SUPPLEMENTAL CONTRIBUTION TO PIARC TO SUPPORT THE SPECIAL PROJECT ON DIGITAL TWINS GLOBAL PROGRESS: REAL-WORLD PRACTICES AND OUTCOMES IN THE ROAD AND MOBILITY SECTOR.

Pursuant to 13.106-1(b), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) intends to solicit from a single source with FHWA co-sponsorship through a supplemental contribution to PIARC to support the Special Project on Digital Twins Global Progress: Real-World Practices and Outcomes in the Road and Mobility Sector.

The project will provide a synthesis of definitions, standards and use cases that reflect a range of implementation levels and support informed decision-making and future investments, paving the way for each road administrator or road operation to find their suitable strategy to implement Digital Twins. It is also important to highlight challenges and opportunities connected with the implementation of Digital Twins in the organization, both in digitally developed countries and countries or jurisdictions with less digital development. Additionally, successful and unsuccessful case studies should be presented and analyzed in the project.
The key questions this Special Project will seek to address are:
1. What are the official and common international definitions of a Digital Twin and BIM around the world? And what are the main concepts connected to it?
2. What is the relationship between Digital Twin and BIM?
3. What are the standards used in the development of Digital Twins in the Road and Mobility Sector (R&MS) around the world? What are the main organizations that are providing guidelines on these topics?
4. What is the current use of Digital Twins models in R&MS?
5. What are the opportunities, barriers and risks for development of Digital Twins?
6. Which technologies can be used to develop Digital Twins? Is it possible to identify low-cost technologies? What is the relationship between Digital Twin and ITS?
7. Which aspects of road infrastructure and road operations are currently included in the Digital Twins models, and which ones should be included and which level of information and detail?
8. What new capabilities can be introduced by the implementation of Digital Twins? Are there critical infrastructure or operations that should also be addressed outside the Digital Twins? What are the applications of Digital Twin to Road Network Operations and Monitoring and Control of the road infrastructure?
9. What are the best practices in terms of informing different stakeholders, inside and outside a road authority or operator, of the existence and use of Digital Twins?
10. What are the best practices in terms of standardization and interoperability for Digital Twins?
11. How will Digital Twins be integrated with CAVs? What new business models can this bring to road operators and national road administrations?

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) supports PIARC efforts to produce knowledge-sharing reports and other outputs on digital twins. Tasks to be funded through this project include a literature reviews and a report.
The U.S. is a member of PIARC and is represented by delegates from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and State departments of transportation (DOT) representatives. PIARC is the only world-wide intergovernmental road organization focusing on developing and promoting efficient tools for decision making on matters related to roads and road transportation.
 FHWA’s involvement in this Special Project aims to fill in knowledge gaps and obtain information on emerging road related policies and practices in support of FHWA’s priorities. As the lead United States technical Agency participating in the Association, FHWA is responsible for developing the country's technical and material contributions to this effort. Member countries provide supplemental contributions in support of these projects.

The intent of this notice is not to request competitive proposals, and any information received from interested parties will only be considered solely for determining whether a competitive procurement should be conducted. However, interested parties may submit a description of their firm’s capabilities for satisfying this requirement, which demonstrates they possess the ability to successfully perform this effort. All questions concerning this matter should be addressed to monique.snowmanning@dot.gov