Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo)

What is CReDo?

The Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo) is a pioneering climate change adaptation digital twin project that provides a practical example of how connected data can improve climate adaptation and resilience across a system of systems.

CReDo looks specifically at the impact of flooding on energy, water and telecoms networks. It demonstrates how those who own and operate them can use secure, resilient, information sharing across sector boundaries to mitigate the effect of flooding on network performance and service delivery.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Climate change is a systemic challenge, and it demands a systems-based solution. CReDo shows the benefits of this joined up approach and how better information and coordination enables providers to identify better solutions. Collaboration through connected digital twins is key to tackling climate change.

CReDo provides an important template to build on. There is huge potential to adapt it to other challenges, such as climate mitigation and net zero. The end goal is building an ecosystem of connected digital twins.

CREDO BEGINS ITS NEXT STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT

Connected Places Catapult is working with Anglian Water, UK Power Networks and BT to develop the Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo). CReDo aims to be a connected digital twin of critical infrastructure that helps the cross-sectoral infrastructure network adapt to climate change and improve climate resilience.

CReDo showcases the advantages of combining data and insights across sectoral and organisational boundaries. The resulting improved coordination of operational and investment decisions, including inter- and intra-sector collaboration, will increase resilience against extreme weather events. At present this covers infrastructure across the water, energy and telecoms sectors, but long-term ambition is to capture additional sectors, at national scale.

The first phase of CReDo was funded by a collaboration between Connected Places Catapult and the Centre for Digital Built Britain. Connected Places Catapult has taken over as lead organisation for this next stage of development.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CReDo has been delivered through a first-of-its-kind collaboration between academia, utilities networks and government.

Collaborating on the first phase of CReDo were Anglian Water, BT and UK Power Networks, who used their asset and operations data as well as weather data supplied by the Met Office on a secure, shared basis to inform an increased level of infrastructure resilience. These data sets were securely shared to create a digital twin of the infrastructure system for energy, water and telecoms. This enabled insights from the data that can inform decision making concerning capital and operational planning and real time operations reducing the cost and disruptive impact of extreme weather events.

CReDo was delivered through a collaboration of research centres (Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Newcastle, and Warwick along with the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and the Joint Centre of Excellence in Environmental Intelligence) and industry, funded by BEIS, the Connected Places Catapult and the University of Cambridge.