23 May 2025
File Ref: IRC-8235
Adam Michael
[FYI request #30575 email]
Tēnā koe Mr Michael
Thank you for your email of 31 March 2025 to Te Kaunihera o Pōneke | Wellington City Council (the
Council) requesting information regarding Wellington Digital Twin City initiative
. Your request has been
considered under the Local Government Of icial Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA).
Please find my response below.
1. Details of services sought and rendered by the Wel ington City Council, in relation to
Buildmedia and The Boundary APAC in relation to the Wellington Digital Twin project.
Buildmedia approached the Council regarding use of data being produced as part of the pre-existing
Digital Twin and Innovation programmes within an instance of their software, so that they could
experiment and develop capabilities in gaming software. This was done using an Epic Megagrant
(third party funding from Epic (an international game software company to Buildmedia). This
megagrant did not pass through the Councils accounts.
2. Copies of emails, memos, or any correspondence exchanged between Wel ington City
Council officials and representatives of the Boundary APAC or Buildmedia regarding the
Digital Twin initiative.
Please find attached, as
Appendix 01 to my response, all correspondence between the Council and
representatives of Buildmedia regarding the Digital Twin initiative. Some information has been
withheld pursuant to the following sections of the LGOIMA:
• section 7(2)(a), protect privacy of natural persons,
• section 7(2)(b)(i ), protect information here the making available of the information would be
likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is
the subject of the information,
• section 7(2)(c)(i), protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence or which
any person has been or could be compel ed to provide under the authority of any enactment,
where the making available of the information would be likely to prejudice the supply of similar
information, or information from the same source, and it is in the public interest that such
information should continue to be supplied, and
• section 7(2)(f)(ii), maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the protection of
such members, officers, employees, and persons from improper pressure or harassment.
As per section 7(1) of the LGOIMA, I do not consider that in the circumstances of this response, the
withholding of this information is outweighed by the other considerations which render it desirable to
in the public interest to make the information available.
Where an email chain begins to duplicate what has already been provided, the information has been
marked as “Duplicate’, and when information does not relate to your request, it has been marked as
‘Out of Scope’.
3. A record of meetings held between Wel ington City Council officials and the representatives of
The Boundary APAC or Buildmedia, including the dates, participants, and summaries or
minutes of those meetings.
You can find details of the meetings and attendees within Appendix 01, however I can confirm that
there were no minutes taken for these meetings, so any details of the meetings are refused pursuant
to section 17(e) of the LGOIMA, as the document al eged to contain the information requested does
not exist or, despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be found.
4. Information regarding the specific services procured by the Wel ington City Council in
connection with the Digital Twin project, including which divisions and officials within the
council have procured these services. Including Documentation or contracts related to these
procured services, outline the nature of the services and the parties involved.
The Council did not procure from Buildmedia; it was funded from third party funding outside of a
procurement agreement. For this reason, I am refusing this portion of your request pursuant to section
17(e) of the LGOIMA, as the document al eged to contain the information requested does not exist or,
despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be found
5. Evidence of implementing these services in the core business of the council. Has the council
contracted these services for direct use within certain planning departments? Have any
processes, workflows, or decision-making frameworks changed within these departments as
a result of these services?
Buildmedia were not contracted for direct use within the Council. They were tested with our Strategic
Planning team and have been used in the early District Plan processes, as well as testing
interoperability between game engines and Internet of Things (IoT) deployments. The Buildmedia
arrangement was part of an earlier generation of Digital Twin Capability, which has now been
superseded. The successor projects to this are the Underground Asset Register, Digital City Model
and Our Changing City (climate adaptation tool). Additional capabilities for 3D Urban Planning and
tracing decisions have also been deployed. Validation reports have been completed as a part of the
Underground Asset Register. Please attached, as
Appendix 02 to my response, a copy of the
Underground Asset Register attached.
You have the right, by way of complaint under section 28(1) of the LGOIMA, to request an
investigation and review of the Council’s decision to withhold and refuse information by the
Ombudsman. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
If you require further information, please contact
[email address].
Nāku noa, nā
Danika Morris-Brown
Senior Advisor Official Information
Official Information & Privacy
Wellington City Council
Wel ington City Council | 2 of 2
