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India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has partnered with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to explore artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital twin technologies for future-ready infrastructure planning.
ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for digital technologies (ICTs). Based in Geneva, Switzerland, it is the oldest UN agency that has connected the world since 1865. The organization comprises 194 member states and over 1000 companies, universities, and international and regional organizations.
Neeraj Mittal, the secretary (Telecom) of the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, traveled to Geneva to further strengthen India’s global digital leadership and deepen engagements with key international stakeholders in the telecommunication sector, India’s Ministry of Communications said in a statement.
“In a step towards [Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s] Double AI vision to embrace tech advancements positioning India as a leader in the 21st century, DoT India and ITU have signed a Letter of Intent to explore AI-driven Digital Twin technologies for future-ready infrastructure planning,” DoT India said in an X post. “Empowering Indian researchers to drive global innovation, giving a filip to PM Modi’s vision of Jai Anusandhan (hail innovation)!”
The Letter of Intent will also support PhD students researching telecom technologies. PhD is a postgraduate academic degree considered the highest level of education in a field of study.
According to the statement, Mittal held various meetings with the leadership of ITU. In his meeting with Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of ITU, Mittal reaffirmed India’s commitment to digital connectivity, inclusion, and innovation. Their discussions included India’s leadership in 5G and 6G technologies, AI for digital transformation, cybersecurity frameworks, and ITU’s Partner2Connect initiative to bridge the global digital divide.
As part of this partnership, both aim to explore the conditions and methods for joint initiatives, focusing on driving innovation in digital twins, AI-driven solutions, virtual world technologies, and the transformative potential of IMT-2030 technologies. IMT-2030, or 6G, is a technology framework designed to enable high data rates, low latency, and support for new applications, enhancing connectivity, user experience, and sustainability.
Prime Minister Modi released India’s 6G vision “Bharat 6G Vision” document in March 2023, which envisaged India to be a frontline contributor in the design, development and deployment of 6G technology by 2030. Bharat 6G Vision is based on affordability, sustainability and ubiquity principles.
According to Jyotiraditya Scindia, India’s telecom minister, the Bharat 6G Alliance has tied up with its counterparts in America, Germany, Brazil, and South Korea to work together.
“We followed the world in 4G. We walked with the world in 5G. We will lead the world in 6G,” Scindia said at an event.
The Letter of Intent between DoT and ITU also includes promoting the development of global standards and best practices to ensure seamless interoperability and scalability, advance sustainable development through shared frameworks, capacity building, cross-sectoral collaboration, and foster citizen engagement and participatory approaches to urban and infrastructure planning.
AI-led telecom infra
Next-generation mobile communication technologies are evolving from mere connectivity tools into key platforms for innovative infrastructure planning. Integrating AI, digital twins, and real-time connectivity into a cohesive ecosystem creates widespread intelligence, fostering open, interconnected systems that transform infrastructure planning, collaboration, and execution in critical sectors like transportation, urban development, and healthcare. This progress makes infrastructure planning more dynamic, adaptable, and sustainable, benefiting various sectors.
In Indian telecom, “digital twin technology” virtually represents physical network components such as cell towers, data centers, or entire infrastructure. This model continuously updates with real-time data from sensors and other sources, allowing operators to monitor performance, forecast maintenance needs, and enhance network operations using advanced simulations and analytics. It serves as a digital counterpart to the physical network, supporting informed decision-making.
“The [DoT and ITU] collaboration marks a significant shift in the telecom sector’s role—evolving from simply providing connectivity to becoming a platform that delivers accurate, reliable, and insightful data for infrastructure planning. It opens up opportunities to explore innovative business models, enabling a new ecosystem to deliver scalable, data-driven, and knowledge-based solutions across industries, driving sustainable growth and shaping the future of infrastructure,” the statement said.
Under this partnership, both sides will facilitate the exchange of insights from initiatives like DoT’s Sangam and ITU’s Citiverse to improve cross-sectoral data integration and collaborative planning. They will also contribute to ITU-T Study Group 20 on IoT, digital twins, and smart cities to create global standards, APIs (Application Programming Interface), and methodologies, ensuring seamless scalability of AI-driven solutions.
The partnership will create sandbox environments to test cutting-edge digital twin technologies, run pilot projects, and adapt regulatory frameworks to demonstrate their transformative potential. DoT and ITU will leverage AI-driven platforms to involve citizens in real-time urban planning and infrastructure development, promoting participatory governance and collaborative decision-making.
DoT and ITU also intend to exchange insights on privacy-enhancing techniques (PETs) and their use in ICT (digital technologies) measurement, particularly in building digital twins for urban planning. They will customize AI models using country-specific datasets to deliver context-sensitive solutions for infrastructure development and urban mobility challenges.
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