Building the Case for Open Data to Fight Corruption
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CONNECTING THE DOTS: Building the Case for Open Data to Fight Corruption Transparency International is a global movement with one vision: a world in which government, business, civil society and the daily lives of people are free of corruption. With more than 100 chapters worldwide and an international secretariat in Berlin, we are leading the fight against corruption to turn this vision into reality. www.transparency.org Authors: Jon Vrushi and Robin Hodess Design: Daniela Cristofori © Cover photo: Shutterstock Ekaphon Maneechot Every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained in this report. All information was believed to be correct as of November 2016. Nevertheless, Transparency International cannot accept responsibility for the consequences of its use for other purposes or in other contexts. This research was conducted in cooperation with the World Wide Web Foundation. Established by the inventor of the web, the World Wide Web Foundation works for digital equality for all. For more, please visit webfoundation.org. ISBN: 978-3-96076-040-5 Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0 © Transparency International 2017. Some rights reserved. CONTENTS Preface 4 Exeutive Summary 5 Building the Case: Linking Up Open Data and Anti-Corruption 7 G20 Principles: Open data and anti-corruption in five G20 countries 10 Assessing Anti-Corruption Datasets 12 Map of Key Findings across the Five Countries 14 Case study: Open Data for Anti-corruption 16 Key recommendations 18 PREFACE The purpose of this overview report is to make the In 2015 the G20 Anti-Corruption Open case for using open data to strengthen anti-corruption Data Principles1 (hereafter G20 Principles) efforts. The report, which was jointly conceived were developed, as a first step towards and carried out by Transparency International and the Web Foundation, assessed the extent to which leveraging open data as a crucial tool a select group of G20 countries (Brazil, France, for enabling a culture of transparency Germany, Indonesia and South Africa) have met their commitments to fight corruption by applying and and accountability in order to address implementing the principles and actions set out in corruption. At that time the G20 agreed the G20 Principles. This report also provides a set of that the principles should be based on the recommendations for further action based on that assessment. International Open Data Charter,2 which The five countries assessed represent a variety of focuses on enhanced access to, and the G20 economies from around the world but include release and use of, government data, so as countries whose international leadership has or will be to strengthen the fight against corruption. in the spotlight, via the G20 presidency or the Open Government Partnership chair, for instance. For this reason, it can be expected that they will have a keen interest in implementing open data for anti-corruption purposes. 1 See www.g20.utoronto.ca/2015/G20-Anti-Corruption-Open-Data-Principles.pdf. 2 See http://opendatacharter.net/history. 4 Connecting the Dots: Building the Case for Open Data to Fight Corruption EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In 2015 the G20 Anti-Corruption Working The five country studies reveal that open data policies and anti-corruption efforts are being developed Group prepared a set of Open Data independently from one another. Although performance Principles, which was subsequently in open data indexes correlates very highly with perceived control of corruption, the lack of a coherent adopted by G20 countries. Since that harmonisation between the two fields results in missed time, efforts to promote digitalisation in opportunities for tackling corruption more efficiently. government and greater public access Recommendations are made to G20 governments and to and use of data have expanded other stakeholders to help advance open data use in strategies to combat corruption, including changes dramatically. This set of five country in legal frameworks, the use of data standards, the studies sets out to establish whether G20 availability of training and awareness raising and a focus governments have followed the principles on changing culture and attitudes towards open data and its use in anti-corruption activities. they put in place on open data, the aim of which is to drive them towards fulfilling their anti-corruption pledges. Overall, implementation of the G20 Open Data Principles is inadequate in the five countries studied, with France performing best across a range of qualitative and quantitative indicators and Indonesia most poorly. Although more evidence and use cases on open data are needed, the potential of open data as a driver and enabler of anti-corruption is significant but has yet to be realised. 5 BUILDING THE CASE 6 Connecting the Dots: Building the Case for Open Data to Fight Corruption LINKING UP OPEN DATA AND ANTI-CORRUPTION The growth of open data In recent years, governments around the world have to open up more data and to improve information increased the availability of their data, creating a growing transparency. Governments are under pressure to amount of open data that can be freely used, modified facilitate public access to and oversight of their work, as and shared by anyone for any purpose.3 Open data, data well as to produce information that is easier to work with that can be freely used, modified and shared by anyone and compare. for any purpose, has also emerged as an important It is worth noting that open data is often linked to its potential instrument in the fight against corruption. By public sector application, but it is not limited to releases enabling increased transparency in government activities, by government. It can include data from international budgets and expenditures, open data becomes a organisations, business, and civil society.4 The Open critical ingredient in accountability interventions. The Data Impact Map, set up by the Center for Open Data argument is clear: not only should open data reduce Enterprise, shows that, as of late 2016, more than the mismanagement and misallocation of resources, it 250 mainly civil society organisations (CSOs) have should also help secure a transparent, more accountable documented the use of open data for governance work, exchange between governments and citizens. Indeed, with a particular focus on budget and procurement data public interest in ending corruption and inefficiency in for use in advocacy.5 governance has generated a demand for governments 3 See http://opendefinition.org. 4 T. Davis, F. Perini and J. M. Alonso, Researching the Emerging Impacts of Open Data: ODDC Conceptual Framework, ODDC Working Paper no. 1 (Washington, DC: World Wide Web Foundation, 2013). 5 See http://opendataimpactmap.org/Gov_Factsheet.pdf. 7 Studying the impact of open data has emerged as an This can be understood, among other factors, via the extremely active area of recent scholarship. Although findings across these studies: although advances in open definitive and large-scale research is thin, the academic data in line with the G20 Principles are emerging, they community has identified the impact of open data in a are not yet sufficiently linked to anti-corruption strategies. number of spheres, such as in job creation, economic When that linkage is made, the two agendas are likely to growth, productivity, public sector savings and be even more mutually reinforcing in achieving positive sustainable development. Moreover, researchers have outcomes for transparency, accountability, participation also begun to categorise open data impacts, which and anti-corruption. show its clear relevance to anti-corruption interventions. There are numerous ways that open data can drive anti- Thought leaders in the open data field, Tim Davies and corruption. Lobbying registers can show who is spending Fernando Perini, suggest that open data is relevant for (1) most time with our elected officials. Public procurement transparency and accountability, (2) innovation, economic data can expose companies that receive preferential development and efficiency and (3) inclusion and treatment. Political party financing can hint at agendas empowerment.6 This framework indicates that open data driven by private interest. What is more, when these should contribute to anti-corruption reform, by influencing relevant datasets are merged and triangulated, they can institutions, processes and public engagement. Indeed, reveal patterns or show noteworthy gaps that reflect the ‘home’ of open data, the Open Data Charter, has corrupt conduct. concluded that ‘[o]pen data can play a key role to dismantle corruption networks’, and established an Despite these opportunities, research into open data anti-corruption package to focus on the anti-corruption in five G20 countries has found that the potential of impact of open data in late 2016.7 open data has not been leveraged sufficiently in the fight against corruption. The two fields, anti-corruption and open data have been developing independently of each other, thus missing crucial opportunities for value added through harmonisation. In order to create a well- Open data and corruption functioning anti-corruption regime, there needs to be a Transparency International defines corruption as the targeted effort to connect open data to anti-corruption abuse of entrusted power for private gain. As technology efforts. advances, the methods of the corrupt are also getting All five governments analysed through this research more sophisticated