Overview
CReDO (Climate Resilience Demonstrator) was a landmark project under the UK’s National Digital Twin Programme (NDTP), led by the Centre for Digital Built Britain and Connected Places Catapult. Running from 2021 to 2023, it demonstrated how federated digital twins — connecting data from multiple infrastructure operators without centralising it — can reveal hidden interdependencies and cascading failure risks under climate flood scenarios.
The demonstrator connected asset data from four sectors: energy (UK Power Networks), telecoms (BT), water (Anglian Water), and climate/flood modelling (Environment Agency). By overlaying flood projections onto interconnected infrastructure maps, CReDO showed how a flood event affecting one sector (e.g., power substations) could cascade into failures in dependent sectors (e.g., telecoms base stations losing power, water pumping stations going offline).
CReDO was the first project globally to demonstrate a system-of-systems digital twin approach to climate resilience at this scale, providing a replicable blueprint for cross-sector infrastructure adaptation planning.
Timeline & Location
CReDO was initiated in 2021 as part of the UK’s National Digital Twin Programme. Phase 1 (2021-2022) established the data-sharing framework and produced initial cross-sector flood impact visualisations for eastern England. Phase 2 (2022-2023) expanded the scope, refined the analytical methods, and explored pathways to operational deployment.
The demonstrator focused on eastern England, an area served by Anglian Water and particularly vulnerable to fluvial and coastal flooding. The project concluded in 2023, with its methodologies and lessons informing the broader National Digital Twin Programme and successor initiatives.
Stakeholders
CReDO was led by Connected Places Catapult and the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) at the University of Cambridge. Core data partners included Anglian Water, BT, UK Power Networks, and the Environment Agency.
Additional contributors included Icebreaker One (data sharing standards), the Climate Resilience Hub, and academic researchers. The project was funded through the UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) as part of the National Digital Twin Programme.
Digitalisation & Data
CReDO was inherently a digitalisation project. Its core innovation was the creation of a federated digital twin architecture — a system-of-systems approach where each infrastructure operator maintained sovereignty over their own data while enabling cross-sector queries through standardised interfaces and secure data-sharing protocols.
Key digital components included: flood scenario modelling using Environment Agency climate projections; geospatial asset mapping across energy, telecoms, and water networks; dependency analysis algorithms that traced cascading failure pathways; and visualisation dashboards that enabled decision-makers to explore “what if” scenarios interactively.
The project demonstrated compliance with the Gemini Principles — the UK’s guiding framework for information management in digital twins — and contributed to standards development for cross-organisational data sharing.
Hazards
Exogenous Hazards
Climate-driven flooding (fluvial and coastal) in eastern England; increasing frequency and severity of extreme precipitation events under climate change scenarios.
Endogenous Hazards
Hidden interdependencies between infrastructure networks; cascading failure risks where loss of power causes telecoms and water system failures; data silos preventing cross-sector visibility of systemic risks.
Cost & Benefit
Cost: CReDO was funded as a research and demonstrator project through UKRI as part of the National Digital Twin Programme. Exact project costs were not publicly disclosed but were in the range typical of nationally funded research demonstrators.
Key Benefits: CReDO demonstrated that cross-sector digital twins can reveal cascading failure risks invisible to any single infrastructure operator. The project identified specific scenarios where flood events would trigger multi-sector outages, enabling more targeted and cost-effective adaptation investments. Its federated architecture provides a replicable model for cross-sector resilience planning that respects data sovereignty while enabling systemic risk assessment.
Resilience Principles Assessment
Assessment of meeting Principles of Resilient Infrastructure
Clearly Defined Accountabilities and Shared Responsibilities (P1)
CReDO exemplifies shared responsibility through its multi-stakeholder collaboration model. The project brought together infrastructure operators (Anglian Water, BT, UK Power Networks), government agencies (Environment Agency), innovation bodies (Connected Places Catapult, CDBB), data standards organisations (Icebreaker One), and academic researchers. The federated architecture itself embodies shared responsibility — each party maintains data sovereignty while contributing to collective resilience insights.
Proactively Protected (P2)
CReDO was designed as an anticipatory tool — using climate projections and flood scenarios to identify infrastructure vulnerabilities before they materialise. By revealing cascading failure pathways, the demonstrator enabled proactive investment planning to protect critical interdependent systems rather than reacting to failures after they occur.
Environmentally Integrated (P3) To Do
Limited direct evidence of environmental integration in the source material. CReDO used Environment Agency flood and climate data as inputs but was primarily focused on infrastructure resilience rather than ecological outcomes. Further assessment of environmental co-benefits is needed.
Socially Engaged (P4) To Do
Limited direct evidence of community engagement in the source material. CReDO was primarily a technical demonstrator involving infrastructure operators and researchers. The extent of public engagement or social impact assessment requires further investigation.
Adaptively Transforming (P5)
CReDO represents a transformative approach to infrastructure resilience: moving from siloed, single-sector risk assessment to a system-of-systems perspective. The federated digital twin architecture is designed to evolve, incorporating new sectors, regions, and hazard types over time. The project provides a replicable blueprint for adaptive, cross-sector resilience planning that can scale nationally and internationally.
Continually Learning and Improving (P6)
CReDO embedded continuous learning through iterative scenario modelling and cross-sector data sharing. The project ran across two phases, with Phase 2 building on Phase 1 findings. The federated digital twin architecture enables ongoing refinement as new climate data, asset information, and flood models become available. The project explicitly contributed to the evidence base for the National Digital Twin Programme.
Futures
CReDO’s legacy extends beyond the demonstrator itself. Its methodologies, data-sharing frameworks, and federated architecture inform the ongoing National Digital Twin Programme and successor initiatives within the UK’s infrastructure resilience landscape.
Key future directions include: scaling the approach to cover additional regions and infrastructure sectors; operationalising the digital twin for real-time decision support rather than scenario planning alone; international replication, with interest from other countries in adapting the CReDO model; and integration with the UK’s evolving climate adaptation policy, including the National Adaptation Programme.
The CReDO experience has also contributed to international discussions on digital twins for resilience, including through the UN and World Economic Forum, positioning the UK as a leader in this emerging field.