PhD Defense Success for Imane Jeddoub on Urban Digital Twins
GeoScITY is pleased to announce the successful PhD defense of Imane Jeddoub at the University of Liège on April 20, 2026.
Her dissertation, entitled “Urban Digital Twins Levels of Integration: From Conceptualization to Technical Implementation”, addresses one of the major challenges in the development of Urban Digital Twins (UDTs): the integration of heterogeneous urban data sources for data-driven urban planning and decision-making.
Supervised by Prof. Roland Billen and co-supervised by Prof. Rafika Hajji, the research proposes an original framework structured around three levels of data integration: conceptual, database, and front-end integration. Beyond the theoretical contribution, the thesis also led to the development of City2Twin, a lightweight and flexible Urban Digital Twin platform based on open standards such as CityJSON, CityGML, and the OGC SensorThings API.
The work includes several practical applications involving BIM integration, IoT sensor management, and energy simulation workflows, demonstrating the relevance and applicability of the proposed framework for future interoperable and scalable UDT systems.
The examination committee consisted of:
- Prof. Christophe Debruyne (University of Liège)
- Prof. Roland Billen (University of Liège)
- Prof. Rafika Hajji (IAV Hassan II)
- Prof. Volker Coors (Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart)
- Prof. Hugo Ledoux (TU Delft)
- Prof. Jean-Paul Kasprzyk (University of Liège)
The examination committee praised both the originality and the scientific rigor of the work, as well as the quality of the defense presentation and discussion. The committee unanimously concluded that Imane Jeddoub fulfilled all the requirements for the award of the PhD degree.
The GeoScITY team warmly congratulates Dr. Imane Jeddoub for this important achievement and wishes her continued success in her future academic and professional endeavors.
