Public online monitoring for better development aid

OpenAid Public online monitoring for better development aid

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About

OpenAid is a project of the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany (VR 30468 B) for transparency in development cooperation. OpenAid promotes the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) and implements data analysis projects.

Please also visit:
The Open Aid Data Conference
Offene Entwicklungshilfe
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Contact infoopenaid [dot] de

Data Tools for Open Development

If aid is to have an impact, information related to aid should be easily accessible by all stakeholders, particulary to beneficiaries. Open data is the precondition for citizen feedback, for public monitoring of aid projects and for holding aid agencies to account. It is also crucial for improved knowledge sharing and fact-based decision making.

We build tools to illustrate the value of open data in development cooperation like "Offene Entwicklungshilfe" visualising German aid flows since 2000.

Awareness raising for Open Development

Transparency is crucial for aid effectiveness and improved feedback processes in development cooperation. Therefore OpenAid advocates for more transparency in governmental and non-governmental aid organisations.

We create awareness about open data in development in Germany and other European countries through workshops, publication and direct lobbying. We promote specifically the open data standard developed by the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI).

Networking for Open Development

Open data and open knowledge sharing is a new concept in development cooperation. To achieve a culture change in development cooperation enthusiasts with different organisational and professional backgrounds like anti-corruption, civic participation, technology and governance will need to work together.

We build networks and form coalitions to realise our vision of open and effective development cooperation. We collaborate closely with an international network of open aid data champions.

Why NGOs should implement IATI!

"My CEO will tear off my head,
if I suggest to him that we implement IATI."

These were the precise words of a senior policy person of a big German NGO when I presented IATI some 18 months ago. In the past, reactions of other NGO representatives have been less drastic but still very clearly negative. But times are changing! In the last few months the OpenAid project continued the exchange with NGO representatives. There seems to be a growing willingness to talk about IATI. At the award ceremony of the PricewaterhouseCooper German Transparency Price for non-profits I was able to present IATI in the keynote and discuss with a number of CEOS and the reaction was much more positive than anticipated. Likewise at the workshop on IATI organised by VENRO and OpenAid the response by participants was overwhelmingly positive. The NGO representatives at the workshop acknowledged the value of IATI, but still worried how to make a convincing case for IATI within their organisations. So what is the business case for IATI? Why should NGOs in Germany and in other donor countries publish their data to IATI?

What next in Open Development?

In October 2011 the Open Knowledge Foundation organised its big annual Open Government Data Conference in Warsaw, Poland. After the conference a small group of people interested in development cooperation and development gathered in a side event in Warsaw to discuss where we stood in “open development”. What a contrast to the Open...

OpenAid is now the aid project of OFKN Germany

Somebody said mergers are a sign of consolidation and maturity. We do not know if that is true, but the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany and OpenAid will merge! As of now, OpenAid will be the “development project” of the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany. We are confident, that this is a very good development.

The Vital Contribution of Transparency to Development Effectiveness

On the 2nd of May aidinfo (UK) hosted an event in London on aid transparency with Brian Atwood, the current chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee. This blog post by Alexandra Beech from aidinfo highlights key elements of Brian Atwoods presentation and the discussion. It is no exaggeration to suggest that the (transparency) movement...

Peter Eigen on open data - Interview by Anja Krieger

On the 29th of September OpenAid and its partner organisations the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany, Transparency International Germany and the Heinrich Böll Foundation organised the Open Aid Data Conference in Berlin bringing together for the first time the development community and the open data community in Germany. Keynote speaker...

How to implement IATI?

In the previous blogpost I described the main reasons why it is in the interest of NGOs to publish their data in the IATI standard. NGOs will not have to publish all data fields proposed by the IATI standard because many of those fields are not applicable. To provide a minimum level of detail, NGOs should at least provide the following information: Activity Number/Project ID, Title, Project Description, funding organisation or donor, location, other organizations involved, the total project value in financial terms, the dates and values of expenditures, dates and values of disbursements, the start and end date of a project and links to related project documents that are already published.

The effort and costs involved to actually implement the IATI standard will vary from one NGO to another. For smaller and even mid-size NGOs the use of online tools for implementation is a very good option to keep costs and hassle low.The data can be entered either manually or by uploading an excell spreadsheet. Watch this video of the OpenAidRegister on how your NGO can publish to IATI.
Alternatively you may also check out the Aidstream website and publish your data via this tool.

Watch more videos on OpenAid