Deadline: 23RD June, 2026.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Seeker for this Innocentive Challenge, is seeking innovative, scalable, and user-friendly mechanisms that allow communities to capture and submit damage data in real-time following sudden-onset crises, like earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, or conflicts.
These on-the-ground reports will feed the broader assessment and decision-making by crisis response partners, serving as an early signal layer for damage classification, triage, and rapid intervention. Knowing the location and level/grade of damage or service disruption within the first 48 hours of a crisis can significantly improve response effectiveness.
They invite Solvers to build and demonstrate the use of a prototype app (at minimum TRL 4) for communities to upload photos of affected infrastructure, submit short descriptions that categorize the level of damage, and geolocate critical areas using accessible digital methods.
The solution should be highly user-friendly, operate both online and offline, ensure data security and privacy, and utilize open-source methods to allow replication and integration by other agencies. Systems that incorporate analytics on submitted data, AI-informed analysis, or integration with satellite/Geographic Information System (GIS) systems will be preferred.
Prize
A prize of US$50,000 will be awarded to the solution that meets the technical and operational requirements.
Solvers must submit:
- A written proposal – outline your approach, any tools used, and accessibility information for how a community would use the model;
- An interactable prototype or wireframe of the model or tool – must be built to minimum viable product level;
- and a demonstrated use case (pitch video or online tutorial not exceeding 2 minutes) of the following functionality:
- Capture and Display: inputting a photo, description, and damage classification report, with the output of the photo marked to its accurate building location on a map interface;
- Storage: how the information is recorded, anonymised, and retained by the system;
- Export: the ability for the data to be exported in a structured format.
This Challenge has a two-phase evaluation structure:
- After the Challenge closes, UNDP experts and partners will review your solution, pitch video/tutorial, and technical information, with the aim to select and notify a shortlist of Solvers who will be invited to pitch directly to UNDP.
- The pitch will take place for those shortlisted, followed by further analysis and testing of shortlisted solutions, before UNDP finalize any decisions regarding Award and next steps.
For more information and application.