Dassault Systèmes, Egis and B4 Partner in Project to Rebuild Cities in Ukraine

• Ukrainian government selected Egis, Dassault Systèmes and B4 to mobilize their expertise and experience in 3D virtual technologies, construction and engineering to reconstruct urban areas damaged as the result of the invasion
• Two-phased project approach involves a collaborative reconstruction cost analysis and a master planning exercise in Chernihiv Oblast and the city of Chernihiv 
• Virtual twin technology is at the core of the collaborative project to optimize city infrastructure, resources, sustainability and quality of life for inhabitants

VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, France — December 13, 2022 — The consortium of companies led by Egis and which includes Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: FR0014003TT8, DSY.PA) and B4 today announced that they have been selected by the Ukrainian government to mobilize their expertise and experience for the reconstruction of urban areas in Ukraine. The project is supported by the French government with a grant from the French Treasury. 

The project will combine Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform and Egis’ and B4’s construction engineering expertise, in a two-phase approach: a damage assessment and reconstruction cost analysis in the Chernihiv Oblast, followed by a strategic master planning for reconstruction in the city of Chernihiv.

The first phase will consist of diagnosing the damages in the Oblast, to forecast the reconstruction costs and define which infrastructures to rebuild first.  Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform will support the collaboration and host all the information and analysis gathered by EGIS and B4 experts.  Satellite data analysis will automatically detect and highlight impacted areas and will be cross-checked by inspections in the field to validate the calculations and the prioritization strategy.

The second phase will involve building a virtual twin of the city of Chernihiv on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. It will focus on optimizing how the city will be rebuilt including the design of new buildings and the organization of city transportation, infrastructure and other services. Stakeholders from diverse sectors will use the virtual twin to collaboratively test different scenarios involving parameters such as flooding risks, accessibility, transportation, land use, position of key urban assets, and existing water, heat, sewage and other infrastructure networks. In parallel, they will source information from existing documents and city departments to ensure that the needs and expectations of inhabitants in each neighborhood, the vision of elected officials, and economic and social development challenges are all taken into account.  

Throughout the project, all information collected will be fed into the virtual twin of the city to enable the partners to collaboratively build the city master plan.

“Egis has been operating in Ukraine since 1993, working on a variety of private and government funded projects across various sectors such as civil engineering, road and bridge construction, water, urban transport; ports and waterways and energy. Today we run 23 projects in Ukraine that aim to rebuild cities and infrastructure. So the rebuilding of Chernihiv Oblast and the city of Chernihiv will be one more opportunity to bring the company’s global experience to the country such as low carbon and bioclimatic city design, cycle-friendly cities, better public transport and carpooling infrastructure, designing safe, green and hospitable public spaces and other Egis key design principles for smart, sustainable cities,” said Laurent Germain, CEO, Egis. 

“We aim to help local authorities improve cities in Ukraine, and life within them, through this meaningful joint project that will have impacts over the long-term.  Our 3DEXPERIENCE platform plays an integral role in building more sustainable, resilient cities.  Virtual twin experiences enriched with expert knowledge, know-how and data enable us to explore unlimited scenarios and optimize the ones that will best answer the needs of the population, address climate change, upgrade plans for public transportation, smart services and utilities,” said Florence Verzelen, Executive Vice President, Industry, Marketing and Sustainability, Dassault Systèmes.

"Despite the ongoing invasion, Ukraine’s local authorities are already thinking about the future and planning how to rebuild their cities.  They also intend to share their plans with the local population.  Our collaborative efforts and our expertise in engineering and construction fully support this mission to rebuild Ukraine as soon as possible and make its urban areas better than they were before,” said Karim Bensiam, Associate Manager, B4.