NOTRE-DAME,
DIGITAL TWINS
& THE FUTURE OF
CULTURAL ASSETS
A one-day executive summit at the 13th-century Collège des Bernardins — steps from Notre-Dame Cathedral — exploring how geospatial technologies are redefining heritage preservation and long-term asset stewardship.
Event Overview
As governments and institutions around the world face growing pressure to preserve aging infrastructure and cultural landmarks, a new question is emerging:
How do we manage historic assets with the same rigor, intelligence and foresight applied to modern infrastructure?
From cathedrals and castles to museums, monuments and historic civic buildings, digital twins, reality capture, LiDAR, GIS, AI, BIM and spatial computing are transforming how the world's most important cultural assets are documented, maintained, protected and experienced.
Held in the heart of Paris at the magnificent 13th-century Collège des Bernardins — just steps from Notre-Dame Cathedral — this unique executive summit explores how geospatial technologies are redefining heritage preservation and long-term asset stewardship.
Participants will examine lessons learned from the restoration and digital reconstruction of Notre-Dame, explore emerging digital twin initiatives worldwide and discover how governments, cultural institutions and technology leaders are creating living digital records of humanity's most valuable places.
The event concludes with a guided geospatial field experience at Notre-Dame, showcasing how digital documentation, laser scanning, photogrammetry, BIM and reality capture technologies are helping preserve one of the world's most iconic landmarks for future generations.
Who Attends
Agenda
- 8:00 AM
Registration & Networking Breakfast
Welcome coffee and networking within the historic medieval halls of the Collège des Bernardins.
- 9:00 AM
Opening Keynote — Preserving the Past with the Technologies of the Future
Why digital twins, GIS, AI and reality capture are becoming essential tools for managing cultural heritage and historic infrastructure.
- 9:45 AM
Executive Panel — What Can Cultural Heritage Learn from Infrastructure Asset Management?
Exploring how practices used to manage roads, bridges, utilities, airports and cities are now being applied to cathedrals, museums, archaeological sites and historic buildings.
- Asset lifecycle management
- Condition assessment
- Risk management
- Maintenance forecasting
- Funding and investment planning
- Digital continuity
- 10:45 AM
Networking Break
- 11:15 AM
Featured Case Study — Notre-Dame: Rebuilding a Global Icon Through Digital Documentation
A deep dive into the technologies, data and workflows that supported the restoration and preservation of Notre-Dame.
- Laser scanning and LiDAR
- Photogrammetry
- BIM and HBIM
- Reality capture workflows
- Structural analysis
- Long-term digital preservation
- Creating a permanent digital record
- 12:15 PM
Lunch
Hosted networking lunch in the historic nave.
- 1:30 PM
Global Perspectives — Creating Digital Twins of Humanity's Greatest Places
International examples from historic cathedrals, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, archaeological sites, museums, historic government buildings and national monuments.
- 2:30 PM
Technology Showcase — The Digital Heritage Technology Stack
Exploring the convergence of GIS, LiDAR, mobile mapping, UAV mapping, reality capture, BIM, AI analytics, spatial computing, digital twins, XR and immersive experiences.
- 3:30 PM
Coffee Break
- 4:00 PM
Future Vision — From Preservation to Prediction
How AI-powered digital twins will help organizations:
- Predict deterioration
- Prioritize restoration
- Simulate interventions
- Optimize visitor experiences
- Improve resilience against climate change and disasters
- Preserve cultural knowledge for future generations
- 5:00 PM
Guided Geospatial Field Experience — Notre-Dame: From Medieval Masterpiece to Living Digital Twin
Delegates walk from the Collège des Bernardins to Notre-Dame Cathedral for a guided heritage and geospatial experience.
- Restoration insights
- Digital reconstruction story
- Reality capture methodologies
- GIS and BIM integration
- Digital twin concepts in practice
- Heritage asset management lessons
- 6:30 PM
Seine Reception — Preserving the World's Cultural Assets
An evening reception overlooking the Seine with views of Notre-Dame and the historic center of Paris.
"Digital twins are no longer reserved for smart cities, transportation networks and critical infrastructure. They are becoming the foundation for preserving and managing humanity's most important cultural assets. Notre-Dame demonstrates how geospatial technologies, reality capture and AI can help ensure that historic landmarks survive — and thrive — for centuries to come."