This session provides a structured overview of the ethical governance model and legal safeguards guiding our project. We will review GDPR compliance, responsible AI oversight, data processing routines, and the protection of vulnerable groups, as defined in the project’s ethics commitments. The objective is to reinforce accountability, transparency, and alignment with EU regulatory requirements throughout implementation and reporting.
Monica Ek, representing WP1, will present the project's ethics governance, will lead the session and outline how ethical and legal safeguards are implemented across the project.
Kim Lantto, City of Gothenburg, Democracy and Citizen Administration, will contribute with insights into the practical implementation of citizen dialogue and data protection, highlighting how legal safeguards translate into operational routines and technical decision-making within the project.
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This session provides an overview of Europe’s work on interoperability through the Minimum Interoperability Mechanisms (MIMs) – a set of open standards and guidelines for sharing and reusing data across cities – and the Destination Earth (DestinE) initiative, which develops digital twins of the Earth to support climate and environmental decision-making.
Our project partners Mila Koeva, University of Twente, and Desislava Petrova-Antonova, GATE Institute, will present how the CU project aligns with and can contribute to MIM7 and MIM8, particularly in relation to geodata and Local Digital Twins. The session will also highlight how these frameworks connect to broader European developments and what this means for building scalable, interoperable and inclusive digital solutions for cities.
We are happy to have Jan Wester, Director of the LDT CitiVERSE EDIC attending this session. Jan will provide an overview of the LDT Citiverse EDIC and its strategic direction, exploring how governance models, interoperability frameworks and European data spaces connect Local Digital Twins, the Citiverse projects and shared digital infrastructure for cities.
The session will also address why the EU is leveraging the EDIC instrument and how it differs from traditional EU projects. You will gain insights into how EDIC governance can support coordination between countries, cities and European initiatives, while shared standards help reduce the risk of vendor lock-in.
The presentation highlights how different building blocks of the European Citiverse are beginning to align, including the LDT Toolbox and the MIMs. It also reflects on how the EDIC can contribute to a more predictable European market for interoperable digital solutions for cities.
During the autumn 2025 we at Lindholmen Science Park have mentored two law students, Frida Nilsson and Olle Nyberg, from School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg. In this level up session Frida and Olle will present a summary of their master thesis.
Frida Nilsson’s thesis examines how digital twins and technology-based support tools can enhance crisis preparedness for people with disabilities. Using the European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness project and its hypothetical development, RescYou, as a point of departure, the study explores the legal aspects of sharing health and location data in real time to use in extensive emergency crises. The analysis focuses on legislation related to emergency preparedness, data protection, and human rights.The overall aim is to assess whether and how such technology can be lawfully used to increase safety, inclusion, and the effectiveness of emergency response efforts.
Olle Nyberg’s thesis examines how the EU’s new data legislation, with particular focus on the Data Act and the Database Directive, affects the legal and practical governance of publicly funded local digital twins, such as Virtual Gothenburg and the European Citiverses Uniting for Inclusiveness project that builds on the twin. The thesis identifies a regulatory gap in which different EU regimes pull in different directions, complicating governance, ownership, and the distribution of rights and obligations. Ultimately, a proposal for a commons-based governance model, intended to be “as open as possible, as closed as necessary,” and compliant with EU law, is presented.
