The National Digital Twin Programme (NDTP) works in collaboration with a wide range of government departments, public sector bodies, industry partners, and academic institutions to develop interoperable digital twin solutions. These collaborations help drive the development of shared digital infrastructure, standards, and frameworks that support data-sharing and decision-making across multiple sectors.
The nature of our collaborations varies—from co-developing open-source technologies to sharing datasets and methodologies, to supporting strategic initiatives in critical sectors such as transport, energy, water, and defence. Below are some of the key partnerships within the programme:
Further relationships
Beyond our formal agreements and structured collaborations, the NDTP works closely with a broad network of organisations across government, industry, utilities, research institutions, and international partners. These relationships play a crucial role in shaping the development, adoption, and scaling of a trusted, interoperable digital twin ecosystem.
Whether through knowledge-sharing, co-developing technical frameworks, contributing to standards, or piloting new approaches, these collaborations help advance the integration and interoperability of digital twins, ensuring that they can work together seamlessly as part of a connected, data-driven future. The logos below represent just some of the organisations we engage with to enable the National Digital Twin ecosystem.
Ministry of Defence (MoD)
The NDTP is engaged with the MoD through its involvement in Programme Odyssey, which is exploring secure, federated data-sharing models for defence and national security applications. The IA is being actively deployed within defence environments, demonstrating its ability to enable trusted, interoperable, and scalable information-sharing across sensitive domains.
National Energy System Operator (NESO)
NDTP is supporting NESO, formerly the National Grid ESO, in the development of the Virtual Energy System (VES). Through this collaboration, NDTP is providing the Integration Architecture (IA) and supporting its deployment as part of NESO’s Data Sharing Infrastructure (DSI). This partnership represents a significant step toward creating an interconnected, real-time view of the UK’s energy system, enabling more efficient grid management and accelerating the transition to net-zero.
Department for Transport (DfT)
The NDTP has a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with DfT, working together on several strategic initiatives. One key area of collaboration is the development of VISTA, a resilience planning tool designed to help visualise cascading infrastructure failures and assess transport dependencies during crises. Additionally, DfT is leading the development of an Information Exchange Standard (IES) extension for transport, ensuring seamless interoperability between transport datasets and other infrastructure domains.
Anglian Water
NDTP is collaborating with Anglian Water to develop an IES extension for the water sector, ensuring that water infrastructure data can be securely shared and integrated with wider digital twin ecosystems. This work supports the development of a common data-sharing framework that enhances resilience and operational efficiency across the water sector.