Need

With this Innocentive Challenge, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is seeking innovative technologies, prototypes, or market-ready products capable of locating underground water networks (potable and irrigation), sewerage networks, telecommunications, and electrical utility cables in a wide range of operating environments.

Solutions should enable infrastructure teams to better understand the location and characteristics of existing underground infrastructure before rehabilitation works begin, helping to reduce accidental utility damage and improving project planning and documentation.

UNDP is seeking practical, implementation-ready solutions that can accurately detect and map underground utilities to support infrastructure and rehabilitation projects in Syria. Submissions may propose commercially-available technologies, adaptations of existing products, novel combinations of established solutions, or innovative approaches that could realistically be deployed during projects in Syria. Solutions should include technical specifications, an implementation methodology, deployment considerations, and recommendations for integrating the collected data and mapping into long-term digital infrastructure management systems.

Successful solutions will demonstrate how they accurately detect and map the desired underground utilities, helping UNDP support safer infrastructure rehabilitation, improve planning confidence, reduce implementation delays and costs, and contribute towards the development of more reliable digital records of underground infrastructure.

Prize/IP

Your IP Rights are protected in this Prize Challenge; UNDP must pay you an Award to obtain them.

The best solution has the opportunity to win the award of $25,000 for meeting all must-have solution requirements, as solely determined by UNDP. UNDP is also open to issuing partial awards. This Challenge requires a written proposal to be submitted and Awards will be contingent upon the theoretical evaluation of your proposal by UNDP against the Solution Requirements.

To receive an Award, Solvers are required to grant non-exclusive license rights to the Intellectual Property (IP) in their proposed solution. Solvers will retain all rights to any proposal not awarded. Awarded Solvers will also grant a license to UNDP to make awarded solutions freely available to other non-profit organizations to help improve crisis response capabilities globally.

UNDP is willing to consider a collaboration agreement if non-exclusive IP rights cannot be transferred by a Solver that is an organization owning the IP rights in their proposed solution or a Solver proposing market-ready solutions.

UNDP may also issue “Honorable Mention” recognitions for notable submissions that are not selected for monetary awards.

The intention is to select and award the best solution, prior to conducting a limited, 6-month pilot project within Syria to test the feasibility and performance of the winning solution against currently-used methods and technologies. This pilot step may therefore require further consultation with the awarded Solver.

Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on 21st December, 2026.

Please review the later Participation Guidance section before submitting a proposal.

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Seeker/Eligibility

This Challenge is in support of United Nations Development Programme. See more on the Innocentive Showcase for UNDP. UNDP does not endorse any entity, brand, product, or service.

UNDP works before, during and after crises to break the cycle of repeated shocks. We help countries reboot local economies, restore health and education services, and strengthen governance so recovery starts immediately and not years later. When communities drive their own recovery, they rebuild stronger, reduce humanitarian dependency and are better prepared for future risks.

Your solutions will help the UNDP to improve the lives of thousands across the globe.

UNDP is supported in this project by SeaFreight Labs (www.seafreightlabs.com), an open-innovation consultancy using global challenges to cost-effectively deliver breakthrough innovation. Participation in this project is a direct result of SeaFreight Labs membership in the Pledge 1% movement.

Individuals, teams, and organizations are eligible to participate as Solvers in this Challenge.

Challenge

Background

Reliable information about underground infrastructure is fundamental to the planning, rehabilitation, operation, and maintenance of public services. Water supply systems (for drinking water and for irrigation), sewerage networks, telecommunications, and electrical distribution infrastructure are typically buried beneath or alongside roads and public spaces, requiring accurate knowledge of their location before excavation or construction activities can safely proceed.

In many countries, utility operators maintain comprehensive digital asset registers and continuously update as-built records following construction and maintenance activities. These records support efficient maintenance, reduce accidental utility strikes, improve coordination between infrastructure owners, and lower project costs. In fragile and post-conflict settings, however, infrastructure documentation is often incomplete, outdated, fragmented, or unavailable.

Years of conflict, emergency repairs, institutional disruption, population displacement, and informal urban expansion across Syria has significantly reduced confidence in existing records.

Infrastructure networks may have been repaired, replaced, extended, or abandoned without corresponding updates to engineering drawings or digital databases.

Deir ez-Zor governorate in northeast Syria, the largest urban centre has a population of 350,000-400,000 people, is supported by 70km of main sewer lines, 300km of secondary sewer lines, and 250km of water networks. However, only around 30% of the governorate’s area is covered by existing sewerage network maps, 40% is covered by water network maps, and 50% is covered by electricity network maps. Most of these maps are paper-based and may be missing due to conflict and disruption, or lack proper archiving, digitization, and connections for necessary information sharing.

In Aleppo City, where 40% of neighbourhoods are classified as informal settlements, the absence of accurate infrastructure network data has direct implications for population return, access to essential utilities, and urban quality of life.

This problem is particularly acute during infrastructure rehabilitation projects, where contractors frequently need to excavate within existing road corridors containing multiple underground services. Potable and irrigation water networks, sewerage systems, and electrical cables are commonly located within the same corridor, often at different depths and alignments. Without reliable information, rehabilitation teams must rely on technical experience, visual inspection, local knowledge, or cautious trial excavation before construction can proceed.

These uncertainties increase implementation costs, extend project schedules, create safety risks for workers and communities, and may result in accidental damage to existing infrastructure. Utility strikes can interrupt essential services, require emergency repairs, delay rehabilitation works, and increase the overall cost of recovery projects.

Although commercial utility detection technologies exist, their performance varies depending on soil conditions, utility materials, burial depth, congestion, environmental conditions, and operational constraints.

Furthermore, solutions developed for well-documented infrastructure systems may not always translate effectively to fragile environments where existing information is limited and field conditions are challenging.

Today’s state-of-the-art underground utility detection technologies increasingly combine multiple technologies, including radar, electromagnetic locating, acoustic detection, passive sensing, and geophysical methods. These technologies are often integrated with GPS/GNSS positioning that feed into GIS platforms and digital mapping tools: helping to record the presence, alignment, depth, and characteristics of detected utilities. For context, the current technology used in developed markets (e.g. Europe) is primarily electromagnetic locating: a field device operated by an individual, costing approximately US$20,000, capable of locating roughly half a kilometre per day.

In Syria, UNDP typically rehabilitates on the order of between ~24-100 km of sewer and water network per year at a minimum across its six offices (roughly two projects per office, ~2 km over two months each), potentially scaling to around 100 km where funding allows parallel work across neighbourhoods.

UNDP is looking for solutions which preserve the successful function of underground utility detection methods but are suitable for fragile, conflict environments where there is lesser documentation about infrastructure systems.

The Challenge

UNDP is therefore seeking practical approaches that can help implementation teams rapidly and accurately identify underground utilities while generating information that can subsequently strengthen digital infrastructure records and support future rehabilitation activities.

The aim is to substantially improve on the cost, speed, coverage, or performance of the US$20,000 electromagnetic locator technologies. This Challenge is not looking for Solvers to restate the current leading technology approaches, but for genuinely novel, innovative, or improved approaches that are faster, more cost-effective, and/or more accurate.

UNDP seeks practical, field-ready solutions capable of detecting underground water (potable and irrigation) networks, sewerage networks, telecommunications networks, and electrical utility cables prior to rehabilitation works.

Solutions should focus primarily on improving the accuracy and reliability of underground utility detection. While speed and affordability remain important considerations, accuracy is the highest priority, recognizing that avoiding accidental damage significantly reduces project delays, repair costs, and operational risks.

The proposed solution should demonstrate how underground utilities can be detected under a wide range of operating conditions likely to be encountered across Syria, including varying soil types, densely populated urban environments, informal settlements, areas with limited site accessibility, and locations where reliable engineering records are unavailable. Solvers may assume a cleared, traversable surface: a flat road or the ground immediately alongside a main road, with debris and rubble already removed. Debris removal is the first stage of any critical-infrastructure rehabilitation and is handled as a separate activity, so detection is assumed to take place on cleared ground. Solvers do not need to account for rubble, fallen trees, or heavy surface debris. Solvers should still note relevant considerations such as soil type and the depth at which detection is required.

UNDP’s Syria Country Office reports the following commonly-observed depth ranges for utilities. They vary by area and by the ground conditions beneath, with example cross-sections to follow, so treat the below as indicative values:

• Sewerage networks: typically 3-7 meters below ground level.
• Water and telecommunications networks: typically 1-2 meters below ground level.
• Electricity networks: typically 0.5-2 meters below ground level.

Solvers should state plainly the maximum depth at which their solution detects utilities reliably, as well as commentary about how their detection performance degrades with depth.

The three cross-sections below (A, B, and C) are representative road sections of 15m total width (10m carriageway, with 2.5m sidewalks at each side). These illustrations provide example arrangements that any potential solution is most likely to be applied to in Syria.

Figure 1: Section A - sewerage at roughly 3.5m invert depth and 1.2m width, water line at 1.8m depth and 60cm width, and fiber optic line at 1.8m with 80cm width under the carriageway. Electricity duct banks and telephone ducts (both 0.8m depth) under the sidewalk.

For Section A, the utilities run side-by-side (in parallel) at varying depths, and - for water and fiber optic lines - may be on very similar alignments but made of differing materials.

Figure 2: Section B - water line stacked directly above the sewer in a shared trench. Water line at depth 1.8m and 100cm width, sewer line at 3.5m depth and the same width under the carriageway. The fiber optic line under the carriageway is comprised of a 16-cable bundle, at a depth of 1.8m and width of 80cm. Electricity duct banks and telephone ducts (both 0.8m depth) under the sidewalk.

For Section B, the water network is stacked in the same trench, present above the sewerage network. This creates particular difficulties for sewer maintenance and raises the risk of service disruption and contamination. Vertically-stacked services like in Section B’s example are provided to inform Solvers of the importance of a solution’s ability to resolve two or more utilities of varying depths but on the same alignment.

Figure 3: Section C - the sewerage at 3.5m depth and 100cm width, fiber optic cables at 1.8m depth and 80cm width sit below a water line that transverses the carriageway AND sidewalk. Electricity duct banks and telephone ducts (both 0.8m depth) under the sidewalk.

In Section C, the sewerage network and fiber optic cables are located under the water line, in parallel with the telephone duct and electricity ducts - creating another example of stacked depths that should be considered in proposed solutions.

At a minimum, solutions should identify the approximate alignment (presence) and location (meter-level confidence) of underground utilities. Preference will be given to solutions capable of additionally estimating utility depth, approximate diameter or width, confidence levels, and, where technically feasible, the likely material of the detected asset.

Please see the below table for a non-exhaustive picture of likely materials present in the underground utilities, to help focus your solutions.

Figure 4: likely materials of desired utility assets that UNDP would like to detect.

Submissions may utilize one or more technologies, including but not limited to ground penetrating radar, electromagnetic detection, passive sensing, acoustic techniques, satellite or aerial data, robotics, artificial intelligence, sensor fusion, geophysical methods, or other innovative approaches. Solvers are encouraged to propose combinations of technologies where this improves overall performance, but to be communicative regarding the cost and risk implications of each technology.

Some detection technologies require the target utility to be energized or in service: for example, a common electrical-locating method detects the current being transmitted through a live wire. In a post-disaster context, that line may be damaged or out of service. Solvers should therefore indicate whether their solution can locate inactive (de-energized/out-of-service) utilities as well as active ones. The ability to detect both active and inactive networks is highly valued by UNDP.

Solutions should be practical for deployment by local implementation teams with reasonable levels of technical training (ideally < 1 day, in short sessions with accompanying instructions). Training should be simple and accessible, and enable in-country staff who are non-rehabilitation/technical experts to become proficient with the tool or approach. Where practical training is required, Solvers should describe what it involves, how long it takes, who could deliver it, as well as any indicative one-off or ongoing training costs.

UNDP’s interest is in building local capacity, so solutions that in-country teams can adopt and run themselves without returning specialists/ongoing training is desired. Equally, UNDP is interested in solutions that minimize the need for training in the first place: the more intuitive the tool and its outputs, the more readily local teams can adopt it and the more widely it can be deployed.

Portable equipment, intuitive software, straightforward workflows, and minimal operational complexity are desirable, particularly where projects are implemented under challenging field conditions. Portability for solutions could range from handheld to cart- or vehicle-mounted, so long as they remain easy-to-use and clear as to their requirements for power, set-up, and use.

Recognising that underground utility detection represents only one component of effective infrastructure management, solutions should also explain how information collected by the tool, product, or solution can be recorded, validated, stored, and exported for integration into GIS platforms or other commonly used digital asset management systems (e.g. via structure .csv documentation or typical mapping exports for infrastructure/utilities). Ideally, solutions should support data collection and export for user-ready maps and plans in standard formats (PDF and AutoCAD-compatible .DWG or .DXF file types). Where possible, it should also be able to generate print-ready layouts for standard printers or large-format plotters to support areas where hard copies are required. Exported data should be capable of supporting future maintenance, rehabilitation planning, and coordination between infrastructure stakeholders - in Syria and beyond.

Where appropriate, Solvers may recommend commercially available products, adapted commercial solutions, integrated service offerings, or innovative prototypes capable of progressing towards field deployment. However, solutions should clearly distinguish between commercially available capabilities and proposed future adjustments and developments.

Where available, Solvers should provide social proof: evidence where the solution has been deployed or tested in comparable contexts, including where it was used, outcomes achieved, and any KPIs from that usage. This is particularly relevant for higher-readiness solutions. For early-stage solutions where field data does not yet exist, Solvers should be candid that figures are theoretical or proof-of-concept and provide the best available basis for comparison rather than omitting the point.

While this Challenge does not outline specific cost ranges or ceilings, Solvers should be conscious and communicative of all costs necessary for their solution to be successfully piloted and implemented by UNDP, including CAPEX, OPEX, and other required fees for sustained operation. Solvers do not have to calculate for import/export, customs, or other fees relating to procurement.

Submissions should include a proposed implementation methodology describing how the technology would be introduced within infrastructure rehabilitation projects. This should include site preparation, survey methodology, quality assurance procedures, validation approaches for updating network records, recommended workflows, data management processes, and an outline of how the solution could be piloted under real operating conditions.

Solutions will be evaluated against their feasibility to detect and map underground utilities; their level of accuracy (meter-level at a minimum, with higher scores for greater accuracy); their practicality under Syrian operating conditions; their ability to export data compatible with digital infrastructure management systems; their ease of deployment, training, and maintenance; and their cost-effectiveness for long-term adoption by UNDP and partners.

Solution Requirements

Solutions at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) between 4-9 are welcome, with a minimum TRL of 4. A market-ready solution (proven in other, more or less developed contexts, arriving with an instruction manual, and likely ready to use out of the box) is as welcome as an earlier-stage Proof of Concept, prototype, or paper proposal from an individual innovator, research lab, or maker.

Submissions from different TRLs will naturally look very different: a market-ready entry may include social proof and real-world KPIs, while an early-stage entry may present assumed or theoretical figures requiring further evaluation and follow-up with the Solver.

Solutions should demonstrate both technical capability and operational practicality. Proposals should provide sufficient technical detail to enable comparison between approaches while explaining how the solution could realistically be implemented under Syrian field conditions.

UNDP is primarily interested in solutions that meet the following must have requirements:

1. Ability to detect underground water (potable and irrigation) networks, sewerage networks, telecommunications cables, and/or electrical utility cables.
2. Demonstrate practical capability to determine utility location and alignment, with meter-level accuracy considered acceptable and higher accuracy strongly preferred. Please clearly describe expected accuracy, confidence, limitations, or risk factors.
3. Estimate utility depth where technically feasible. Utilities could be up to 7 meters below the road surface, with further information available in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
4. Provide detailed technical specifications for recommended equipment or technologies, including your approach and how it functions.
5. Provide evidenced figures for capital expenditure (CAPEX) and be communicative of likely operational expenditures (OPEX). At minimum, state the capital cost to purchase one unit, the annual operating cost of running that unit, and the expected service lifetime.
6. Includes a suitable, practical implementation methodology for infrastructure rehabilitation projects in Syria.
   1. Provide performance characteristics for your solution, including metrics regarding the accuracy, maximum reliable detection depth, how performance degrades with depth (noting that e.g. utilities could be up to 7m below the road surface), width of the area covered by your solution, and survey coverage per working day (e.g., kilometres covered per day). Where figures are used, please clearly mark them as estimated or evidenced.
   2. Awarded solutions must be capable of operating under diverse field conditions, including different soil types, dense urban environments, informal settlements, limited-access locations, and low-connectivity environments.
   3. Solvers should include descriptions of the environmental, social, occupational safety, conflict sensitivity, and ‘do-no-harm’ impacts that are required considerations for UNDP to consider field deployment of the solution.
7. Produce structured, compatible digital outputs that can be integrated into GIS platforms or commonly used infrastructure management systems.
8. Credibility of Solver: whether an individual, team, or organization. Detail your experience and expertise in applying your proposed solution, and its plausible translation to this challenge need.

Additionally, UNDP are also interested in solutions that display the following nice-to-have characteristics:

1. Increased accuracy: down to centimeter-level utility location and depth.
2. Ability to estimate utility diameter, width, or condition of underground utility.
3. Detection of unexploded ordnance (UXO). While sites are normally cleared by relevant authorities or NGOs before works begin, the ability for your solution to detect the risk/presence of UXO around utilities would be of interest - particularly noting that tunnels constructed during conflict are common and can frequently run close to water and sewerage networks. Solvers should also provide risk assumptions about their detection technologies, including those (electromagnetic, e.g.) that may carry a risk of setting off an UXO.
4. Integrated leakage detection or condition assessment capabilities.
5. AI-assisted interpretation, confidence scoring, or decision-support tools to assist project planning and prioritization.
6. Direct integration with Building Information Modelling (BIM) or infrastructure asset management platforms.
7. Portable, battery-powered, or easily transportable equipment suitable for deployment in challenging environments.
8. Low ongoing operational and maintenance burden.

Solutions with a minimum Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 4 are invited.

Your Submission

Please login and register your interest, to complete the submission form.

The submitted proposals must be written in English and can include:

1. Participation type – you will first be asked to inform us how you are participating in this challenge, as a Solver (Individual), Solver (Team), or Solver (Organization).
2. Solution Level - the estimated TRL of your solution.
3. Partnering - there may be an opportunity to partner at the conclusion of this Challenge. Please indicate if partnering is of interest to you.
4. Approach used - in a concise way, describe your solution’s technology, approach, or method, e.g. ‘Electromagnetic Detection for Electrical Cables’ (up to 10 words).
5. Utilities/Networks that your solution is able to reliably detect - please select all that apply: Potable water; Irrigation; Sewerage; Telecommunications; Electrical cables.
6. Materials your solution is able to detect - please use the field to detail all that apply, as well as any limitations (including active or inactive lines).
7. Detection of material properties - please mark whether your solution is able to detect non-metallic and non-conductive assets: YES or NO.
8. Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) Cost - provide the capital expenditure per unit/machine/tool, as a figure in USD.
9. Operating Expenditure (OPEX) Cost - provide the estimated annual operating cost of your solution, per unit, as a figure in USD.
10. Problem & Opportunity - highlight the innovation in your approach to the problem, its point of difference, and the specific advantages/benefits this brings (up to 500 words).
11. Solution Overview - detail the features of your solution and how they address the SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS, particularly regarding the technical specifications, operational considerations, and data management approach, as well as any ESG and do-no-harm risk profiling of your solution for deployment in Syria that includes commentary on e.g. UXO, asbestos, and other potentially-harmful risks (500 words, there is space to add more in the summary field, and attach supporting data, diagrams, etc).
12. Solution Feasibility – Supporting Information and Rationale, such as references and precedents, that will help UNDP evaluate and validate the feasibility of the solution. Include any details around its cost, and its usability/functionality by non-experts (up to 500 words).
13. Performance Expectations - use this field to describe detection capability (alignment and meter-level confidence), precise level of accuracy, state maximum expected depth, solution coverage by distance and/or by day, and other key performance indicators that would help UNDP to evaluate your submission (up to 500 words).
14. Training Strategy - Explain the best practice method to train new users of your solution. Describe costs (in USD), number of sessions, calendar duration, location (online or offline, in-person), and supporting materials and equipment necessary to train two teams to operate one of your systems (up to 500 words).
15. Experience - Direct or adjacent expertise and real-world proof of deployment use cases you or your organization have in applying your proposed solution, and its plausible translation to this challenge need. Your evidenced credibility to be able to defend your proposed solution is vital (up to 500 words).
16. Solution Risks - any risks you see with your solution and how you would plan for this (up to 500 words).
17. Online References - provide links to any publications, articles or press releases of relevance (up to 500 words).
18. How Did You Hear About This Challenge? - Please identify where you first heard about this challenge.
19. Use of AI - please identify and describe use of AI, LLM, or generative components within your submission AND within your solution. For instance, please detail if AI was used only for translation, or for building the project plan and sketching the solution’s technical drawings.
20. Attachments - include any relevant additional documentation. Drawings, technical documentation, technical papers and short demonstration videos (up to 3 minutes in length) are welcome.

Participation Guidance

1. Submission Close Date: Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on 21st December, 2026.
2. Late submissions: Late submissions will not be considered.
3. Multiple submissions, 3 Maximum: In case of multiple submissions by the same Solver, only 3 submissions – the final 3 submitted – will be considered. Any other submissions will be deleted prior to evaluation.
4. Submission form and attachments: Your submission will be evaluated by the evaluation team first reviewing the information and content you have submitted at the submission form, with attachments used as additional context to your form submission. Submissions relying solely on attachments will receive less attention from the evaluation team.
5. Evaluation notification steps: After the Challenge submission close date, UNDP will review and select the winning ideas/solutions according to the timeline in the Challenge header. Everyone who submits a proposal will be notified about the status of their submissions.
6. Use of AI: Please note that any submissions produced solely with generative AI are not of interest. Please identify and describe all use of AI, LLM, or generative components within your submission AND within your solution.
7. Learn more: Find out more about participation in Innocentive Challenges