Bidirectional synchronization with digital twin platforms.
⚪ Concept · Scale & Twins cluster · Part of Vela Tools
COLUMBA is an idea — a concept-stage Vela Tool that hasn't started development yet. This repository exists to gather demand signals, use cases, and feedback from the community before any code is written.
If this tool would solve a problem you have, vote and share your use case at velacontext.com/vela-tools. Tools with the most demand get built next.
The high-end digital twin platforms (Bentley, Siemens, Dassault, FIWARE-Twins) own real value: 3D models, simulation, BIM integration. Most cities and industrial operators don't want to replace them — they want their NGSI-LD platform to integrate with them. Today, that's a custom project every time.
COLUMBA would be the bidirectional bridge: NGSI-LD entities flow into your existing digital twin platform, and twin events flow back into the broker. Live, two-way, standardized.
- Bidirectional sync — Live updates flow both ways without custom integration.
- Multi-platform — Connect to Bentley, Siemens, Dassault, FIWARE-Twins, and others.
- BIM-aware — IFC and glTF mapping for asset and geometry alignment.
Operators with existing digital twin investments, BIM teams, industrial digital twin programs.
⚪ Concept stage. No development yet.
This repository serves as the official home for the concept — README, license placeholder, and issue tracking are live. Source code, documentation, and releases follow only after demand justifies development.
To prioritize this tool above others in the Vela Tools roadmap, vote on the product page or share your use case.
→ Vote and share use case: velacontext.com/vela-tools → Email: info@velacontext.com — subject "COLUMBA Use Case"
If built, COLUMBA would integrate with the rest of the Vela suite as follows:
| For this | Use this |
|---|---|
| Twin platform synchronization | COLUMBA |
| Lightweight 2D twin for the rest of the city | CARINA |
| Real-time context API | a Context Broker (protected by LIBRA) |
| Entity ingestion from BIM and IFC sources | CASSIOPEIA |
| Schema mapping between twin platforms | LYNX |
When (and if) COLUMBA is built, it will follow the same open-core model as other Vela Tools:
| Edition | What it is | Where |
|---|---|---|
| FOSS | Free, self-hosted, EUPL v1.2 | This repository (post-development) |
| Pro | Commercial license — advanced features, priority support, SLA | velacontext.com |
| Hub | Fully managed as part of Vela Context Data Hub | velacontext.com |
Final feature splits between FOSS and Pro will be announced ahead of development start.
In the concept stage, the most valuable contribution is demand signal:
- Vote for this tool at velacontext.com/vela-tools
- Share your use case — what would you build with COLUMBA?
- Suggest improvements to the concept — open a feature request
When development begins, see CONTRIBUTING.md for the full code contribution process. All contributions will require a Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO) sign-off (git commit -s).
- Issues: GitHub Issues — for concept feedback and use case discussions
- Discussions: GitHub Discussions
- Newsletter: velacontext.com/newsletter — get notified when development begins
- General contact: info@velacontext.com
- Security: security@velacontext.com (see SECURITY.md)
When built, COLUMBA FOSS edition will be licensed under the European Union Public Licence v1.2 (EUPL-1.2) — an OSI-approved, EU-developed open-source license available in 23 EU languages.
COLUMBA is part of Vela Tools — open-core infrastructure for the NGSI-LD ecosystem, built by SenLab d.o.o. in Ljubljana, Slovenia 🇸🇮.
Learn more at velacontext.com.