10 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk Annual Buyers’ Guide 2026 Insight A new collaboration between Trimble and Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is taking shape in Eastern Uganda, where digital tools and local engineering expertise are coming together to solve one of the region’s most persistent challenges: how to unlock funding for essential infrastructure. The initiative aims to create detailed civil engineering masterplans, data driven blueprints that can convince funding authorities and donors to invest in roads, water systems and other public works. It is a partnership grounded not in corporate strategy, but in opportunity and alignment. Digital mapping transforms infrastructure planning in Uganda A collaboration between Trimble and Engineers Without Borders is changing how rural communities in Uganda plan essential infrastructure. Through GIS mapping, drone surveys and shared data systems, engineers and students are developing the evidence based masterplans required to secure investment and build long term technical capability. Aaron Blutstein spoke to Trimble’s Sumele Adelana and Engineers Without Borders’ (EWB) Katie Cresswell-Maynard to find out more. “In truth, the collaboration has come together due to several factors aligning at the same time as opposed to any deep, strategic plan,” Sumele Adelana from Trimble explained. “Trimble in Europe was introduced to the leaders of Engineers Without Borders International, and it was highlighted that Trimble products and software were being used already by members of the Engineers Without Borders community. The Uganda project was an opportunity to formalise that and for Trimble to assist from a monetary, advisory and product provision perspective.” Only later did the team realise that the Trimble Foundation had already been working with Engineers Without Borders USA. That existing relationship helped to cement the new international collaboration and give it immediate direction. From data to design At the centre of the Uganda project is the use of Trimble’s technology to collect and validate the kind of spatial data that underpins modern infrastructure planning. Engineers are using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to gather and interpret environmental, topographic and infrastructural data.
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