New digital map of underground pipes and cables on track to grow economy by £5 billion 

Cambridge, UK, November 27^th, 2023

• Project live across England and Wales ahead of full launch in 2025
• A new discovery project announced to assess economic viability of widening the access to NUAR, to other areas of the economy

1Spatial, the global leader in Location Master Data Management (LMDM) software and solutions is delighted to note the UK Government’s recent announcement that the National Underground Asset Register "(NUAR)" is now available across England and Wales, ahead of becoming fully operational by 2025.

NUAR is a digital map of underground pipes and cables expected to provide £5 billion of economic growth to England and Wales, through increased efficiencies in construction and development, less accidental damage to pipes and cables, and reduced disruption to the public and businesses (from extended road closures and congestion), as well as improved workers’ safety.

1Spatial is proud to have been an integral part of this successful project. By leveraging its industry leading platform and expert team, data collected from a wide variety of asset owners has now been seamlessly ingested and transformed. This data is stored in the NUAR database which includes data from all the major energy and water providers. Providers include Welsh Water, Cadent Gas and UK Power Networks, several major telecommunications companies including CityFibre and Virgin Media O2 as well as several smaller providers and local Authorities.

NUAR is adopting the Open Geospatial Consortium Model for Underground Data Definition and Integration (MUDDI) which will improve data standardisation, interoperability, and quality.

Some of the positive impacts of NUAR could include:

• Providing workers with immediate access to all the data they need, when they need – reducing time taken from six days to 60 seconds.
• Improving the efficiency and safety of street works, by providing secure, instant access to comprehensive privately and publicly owned location data about underground assets.

It has also been announced that a new discovery project is being launched to explore the potential for increased economic growth that could be realised through widening access to NUAR. This could include supporting the rollout of electric vehicle charge points, flood risk planning, emergency response and conveyancing.

“1SPATIAL IS DELIGHTED TO BE PART OF THE TEAM THAT ARE DELIVERING THE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND ASSET REGISTER (NUAR), WHICH DEMONSTRATES OUR WORLD LEADING GEOSPATIAL CAPABILITIES AND OUR ABILITY TO DELIVER COMPLEX PROJECTS AT SCALE. OUR 1SPATIAL PLATFORM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRANSFORMING, VALIDATING, AND MAINTAINING THE DATA FROM ALL CONTRIBUTING ASSET OWNERS, DEMONSTRATING OUR WORLD LEADING TECHNOLOGY AND SKILLED TEAM. 

WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT THE PROJECT TO EXPLORE WIDENING ACCESS TO NUAR, WHICH COULD ENABLE FURTHER ECONOMIC BENEFIT TO BE REALISED FROM THE ASSET. IT COULD ALSO PROVIDE AN UPSIDE OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR 1STREETWORKS SOLUTION."

CLAIRE MILVERTON, CEO, 1Spatial

“IT IS FANTASTIC TO SEE THE PROGRESS BEING MADE ON DELIVERING THE CORE 'SAFE DIG' USE CASE THAT NUAR IS INTENDED TO MEET, AND I AM VERY PROUD OF THE TEAM AT THE GEOSPATIAL COMMISSION FOR DELIVERING THIS COLLABORATIVE PROJECT FOR AND WITH A WIDE RANGE OF INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS. THE SUPPORTIVE STATEMENTS FROM USERS IN THE PROJECT UPDATE IS A TESTAMENT TO THE VALUE THAT NUAR IS ALREADY BRINGING TO THOSE WHO MANAGE OUR UNDERGROUND ASSETS"

ALEXANDRA NOTAY, INDEPENDENT COMMISSIONER, GEOSPATIAL COMMISSION