Alatau City and South Korean Companies to Develop Pilot Digital Twin Project
Alatau City Authority and South Korean technology companies AST Holdings Co., Ltd. and ILJOO GnS Co., Ltd. have signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding in the fields of Smart City and digital technologies. The memorandum was signed in Busan as part of the World Smart City Expo.
The parties plan to develop a pilot project to apply digital twin and Internet of Things technologies. The project will test how data on urban facilities can be collected and synchronized, how utility infrastructure can be connected to a single system, and how the resulting data can be used for city management.
About Korean Partners
AST Holdings has been operating in the digital technology sector for more than 25 years. The company develops three-dimensional digital models of cities and infrastructure facilities by integrating GIS and BIM data with visualization, modelling and monitoring tools.
In South Korea, AST Holdings has participated in the development of the national LX Digital Twin platform and the Digital Twin National Land pilot project. The company also cooperates with Naver Cloud on a project to create digital twins of five major cities in Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Medina and Dammam. The platform is designed to model and monitor processes in urban planning, transportation and environmental management.
AST Holdings reported revenue of KRW 13.83 billion in 2025. The company was founded in 2013 and has a team of approximately 170 employees.
ILJOO GnS has been operating in the market since 2006 and specializes in the digitalization of industry and urban infrastructure. The company develops solutions based on artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and digital twins, as well as production management and industrial safety systems.
Its projects include digital solutions for Busan Eco Delta City and Busan Smart City Lab, the development of a smart manufacturing system at the Hyundai Construction Equipment plant in Gunsan, and an integrated management system for the shipbuilding industry. The company also cooperates with Hyundai AutoEver, Hyundai Motor Company and Hyundai Heavy Industries, and became an official Siemens partner in 2026.
ILJOO GnS reported revenue of KRW 15.65 billion in 2025. The company employs approximately 100 people. In 2025, the Busan authorities included ILJOO GnS in a support programme for regional companies with high technological and export potential.
The Digital Model of Alatau City Will Be Developed Alongside the City
Alatau City is being built from the ground up, making it possible to develop its digital infrastructure alongside roads, utility networks and other urban facilities. This will allow the parties to determine in advance what data should be collected and how different systems will interact with one another.
At the first stage, the parties will focus on a limited pilot area. The pilot will test the collection and synchronization of urban data, as well as the monitoring of utility infrastructure. This approach will make it possible to assess the effectiveness of the solutions before applying them in other parts of the city.
In the future, the digital twin could be used for development planning, traffic flow management, monitoring utility networks and assessing environmental conditions. Unlike a conventional three-dimensional model, it will receive data from real urban facilities and reflect changes in the city’s infrastructure.
«For us, a Digital Twin is far more than a visual 3D simulation. We view it as the data-driven operating system for the long-term development of Alatau City. Building a smart city from the ground up gives us a rare institutional advantage: we can deploy modern digital architecture simultaneously with physical construction. Our key priority is transforming cutting-edge global expertise into applied solutions ready for effective scaling,» said Alisher Abdykadyrov, CEO of Alatau City Authority.
Following the signing of the memorandum, expert groups will determine the location of the pilot area, the facilities to be connected and the technical parameters of the project. Based on the results of the testing, the parties will consider expanding the functionality of the Alatau City digital twin.
