Work Package 5 focuses on designing, implementing, and validating the TWIN4DEM Digital Twin prototypes. Building on the requirements defined in previous work packages and the integrated datasets developed in WP4, WP5 transforms the project’s concepts into fully operational Digital Twin models capable of analysing democratic processes and simulating future policy scenarios.

The main objectives of WP5 are to:

• Design the overall Digital Twin architecture and its interconnected modules
• Develop and implement the individual Digital Twin components
• Integrate all modules into a unified and functional Digital Twin prototype
• Connect the Digital Twin with the data pipelines developed in WP3 and WP4
• Calibrate and validate the models using real-world data
• Simulate policy scenarios co-designed with stakeholders to assess their potential impact

By combining advanced modelling techniques with high-quality data and stakeholder-driven scenarios, WP5 delivers the core technological foundation of TWIN4DEM, enabling the Digital Twin to support evidence-based policy analysis, democratic resilience, and informed decision-making.

As part of TWIN4DEM’s commitment to openness and transparency, the project’s GitHub repository is now publicly available. The repository hosts the project’s technical developments and will serve as a central location for sharing code, tools, and technical outputs as they become available throughout the project.

Researchers, policymakers, developers, and other interested stakeholders are invited to follow the repository to stay informed about future updates and developments related to the TWIN4DEM Digital Twin.

The repository currently contains the first publicly released code and technical outputs, with additional content expected to be added as research activities progress. All code is released under the EUPL v1.2 licence, supporting reuse and further development in line with open-source principles.

Follow the repository for updates and learn more about the technical work supporting TWIN4DEM’s research on democratic resilience and executive aggrandisement.

Work Package 4 focuses on creating the integrated datasets that will power the TWIN4DEM Digital Twin. Bringing together socio-economic data from surveys, elections, censuses, and other public sources, alongside textual data generated in previous project activities, WP4 establishes the data backbone needed for advanced democratic analysis.

The main objectives of WP4 are to:

• Identify the most relevant and reliable data sources for the Digital Twin
• Clean, harmonise, and standardise data from diverse sources
• Aggregate and connect datasets into coherent, interoperable structures
• Ensure compliance with legal, ethical, and data protection requirements
• Deliver integrated datasets ready to support modelling, simulation, and analysis activities in WP5

By transforming complex and fragmented information into high-quality, interconnected datasets, WP4 lays the groundwork for the development of a robust Digital Twin.

What happens when democratic institutions begin to weaken, and how can we detect it early?

In this TWIN4DEM interview, the Work Package 3 leader discusses how computational text analysis and AI-driven methodologies can help identify patterns of executive aggrandisement, democratic backsliding, and societal responses across Europe.

WP3 explores large-scale political and public discourse through innovative computational approaches, contributing to the development of evidence-based tools for safeguarding democracy, transparency, and the rule of law.

The interview covers:
• The objectives and scope of WP3
• Computational approaches to democracy research
• Detecting executive aggrandisement through text analysis
• Monitoring political and societal reactions
• The role of AI and digital methods in social sciences

In this interview, the leader of Work Package 2 explains the frameworks and analytical approaches used to conceptualize the various pathways to executive aggrandizement. The discussion provides insight into the methodological foundations underpinning the TWIN4DEM project’s research on democratic resilience, examining how executive power expansion threatens democratic institutions and the analytical tools developed to study these phenomena.

In this video interview, the TWIN4DEM Dissemination Manager discusses how the project approaches dissemination, communication, and exploitation to ensure that its research and results are visible, accessible, and impactful.

The conversation explores the challenge of engaging diverse stakeholder communities, particularly across the social sciences and computational sciences, and explains how TWIN4DEM uses tailored messaging, clear language, and cross-disciplinary dialogue to connect different audiences. It also highlights the importance of stakeholder feedback and focus groups in shaping communication choices and making outreach more inclusive and responsive.

This interview is part of the TWIN4DEM video series, offering insights into the project’s key roles, interdisciplinary work, and contribution to strengthening democratic resilience.

In this video interview, the TWIN4DEM Ethics Manager discusses the role of ethics in the project and the importance of ensuring that research activities are carried out responsibly and transparently.

The conversation highlights how ethical considerations are integrated across the project, including research design, data handling, and stakeholder engagement. It also explains why maintaining high ethical standards is essential when addressing topics related to democracy, governance, and executive aggrandisement.

This interview is part of the TWIN4DEM video series, which presents key project roles, research themes, and the broader impact of the initiative.

In this first video interview of the TWIN4DEM series, the project coordinator presents the vision and objectives of the project. The discussion introduces the motivation behind TWIN4DEM and explains how the consortium aims to advance research on executive aggrandisement and democratic governance.

The interview outlines the project’s approach to strengthening scientific excellence through international collaboration, interdisciplinary research, and the use of advanced analytical methods. It also highlights the broader relevance of the project for understanding contemporary democratic challenges and supporting evidence-based policy discussions.

Through this video series, TWIN4DEM will share insights from project partners, researchers, and stakeholders involved in the initiative, offering perspectives on key research themes, activities, and expected outcomes.

Over the past months, the consortium consolidated the analytical foundation of the Digital Twin on executive aggrandisement, mapped key political and institutional actors across four case studies, and validated core assumptions through onsite focus groups. An initial integrated version of the Digital Twin architecture has also been developed, alongside the delivery of seven public project outputs.

The 2nd General Assembly and the first Advisory Board meeting provided strategic alignment and external feedback, further strengthening the project’s analytical framework and policy relevance.

With a new round of online focus groups scheduled for March 2026, the publication of the first Policy Brief forthcoming, and continued model development underway, TWIN4DEM is advancing steadily toward delivering tools that support democratic resilience.

Read the full Newsletter #2 for detailed updates and upcoming activities.

📩 Read the newsletter here: TWIN4DEM 2nd Newsletter

Key highlights include:

• The launch of the first transnational focus group with policymakers and civil society organisations

• The development of an early Digital Twin prototype for democratic systems

• Progress on multilingual NLP tools to detect executive aggrandisement

• The start of data collection across Czechia, France, Hungary, and the Netherlands

As TWIN4DEM moves forward, the newsletter will continue to serve as a valuable source of updates, insights, and engagement opportunities for our growing network of researchers, policymakers, and civil society actors.

📩 Read the newsletter here: TWIN4DEM 1st Newsletter