Genesys International Corporation Limited has received the prestigious SKOCH Award (Gold) 2025 in the Urban Development category for its implementation of the Varanasi Smart City 3D Digital Twin project. The award was announced on January 13, 2026, recognizing the company's comprehensive approach to creating a city-scale digital foundation for municipal governance and planning.

Award Recognition and Evaluation Process

The SKOCH Award follows a rigorous multi-stage evaluation process that includes research-led validation, assessment by an independent jury of domain experts, and review of measurable governance impact. The Varanasi Smart City 3D Digital Twin project was evaluated under the e-Governance stream, with recognition for the Design, Development, and Deployment of the 3D Urban Spatial Model implemented by Genesys International for Varanasi Smart City Limited (VSCL).

Comprehensive Digital Twin Implementation

The Varanasi project focused on creating a high-fidelity 3D urban spatial foundation organized into decision-ready layers for planning, monitoring, and inter-department coordination. The implementation covered areas within Varanasi Nagar Nigam limits and involved comprehensive end-to-end project planning with establishment of ground control for positional accuracy.

The technical approach combined multiple advanced data acquisition methods:

• Manned aerial surveys using LiDAR technology
• Optical imagery capture (nadir and oblique, including RGB/NIR)
• Terrestrial mobile LiDAR surveys
• 360-degree street-level panoramic imagery

These datasets were processed to produce 2D and 3D base maps at 1:500 scale, high-precision elevation models, a 3D reality mesh, and a unified spatial database integrating multiple line-department datasets.

Municipal Applications and Use Cases

The Digital Twin enables various practical municipal applications designed for daily operational use rather than just visualization. The solution supports multiple governance functions including urban planning and development control, asset mapping and maintenance, project execution support, public safety and emergency response, and flood and resilience planning.

Leadership Perspective

Sajid Malik, Chairman and Managing Director of Genesys International Corporation Limited, commented on the recognition: "Varanasi Smart City's SKOCH Award (Gold) is a strong validation of what happens when high-accuracy city data is paired with real municipal workflows. Our role was to implement the end-to-end digital twin foundation, from manned aerial LiDAR and optical surveys to street-level mobile LiDAR and panoramic capture, and then translate that into applications that departments can actually use for planning, monitoring, and response."

Deployment and Integration

The digital twin solution has been deployed at the Kashi Integrated Command and Control Centre (KICCC), enabling departmental workflows to be executed and monitored through integrated dashboards. The implementation included comprehensive training, user acceptance testing, and post-go-live manpower support to ensure effective adoption and utilization by municipal departments.

Genesys International Corporation specializes in high-accuracy mapping, 3D city modeling, and enterprise spatial platforms, delivering end-to-end Digital Twin implementations that span data acquisition, modeling, spatial databases, and web/mobile applications to support government and enterprise decision-making processes.