"The new source of power is not money in the hands of a few, but information in the hands of many."
John Naisbitt, researcher and author on Megatrends
Development cooperation is often an issue of controversy in the press. This article by Deutsche Welle presents some critical views on international aid. In this context, former German MP and current board member of Transparency International, Dr. Wolfgang Wodarg, cites OpenAid as one positive initiative to promote transparency in development cooperation and reduce corruption.
German transcript of the letter from Gudrun Kopp, secretary of state, to the parliamentarian Thilo Hoppe. The original answer can be found in the attached document.
Schriftliche Fragen Nr.: 1/28 und 1/29 vom 06.Januar 2011
Sehr geehrter Herr Hoppe, Ihre schriftliche Fragen beantworte ich wie folgt: Read more »
How do you like our xtranormal animation on aid transparency?
In development cooperation, like in all other public sectors, it is not enough to have a good idea. You also need to communicate it to different audiences using appropriate channels. To improve our way of communicating the value of aid transparency, we have been playing around with the online tool xtranormal, and we quite like the result. Even if the animation is not very sophisticated, we think it is worthwhile experiment - particularly since the tool is really easy to use. Have a look at the result and tell us what you think. Do you know other online tools for do-it-yourself animations? Read more »
In 2011 OpenAid will continue to offer presentations on aid transparency. As in 2010 we plan to share information about the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) and also address specific issues related to aid transparency: corruption, the potential of internet and mobile services, feedback processes at project level and transparency in non-governmental organisations.
If you are interested in input on these topics please contact us.
The International Aid Transparency Initiative has set out to develop a data standard to increase transparency in international development cooperation and facilitate access to information. In the past year several online consultations have taken place to invite suggests and feedback on which data donors should publish and in which way. Currently the final round of consultation takes place on the IATI consultation page. Read more »
OpenAid believes that aid transparency is a crucial element of better service delivery in development cooperation. Therefore we strongly support the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) that aims to provide accessible, standardised, up-to-date, detailed and open data about development cooperation.
In 2010 we have been able to do numerous presentations about our work on aid transparency, about IATI, about feedback processes and the fight against corruption in development cooperation.
Amongst other things we made presentations for Inwent in Germany, at the Socialbar in Hannover and Berlin and at the DevCom meeting of the OECD-DAC in Helsinki.
For 2011 we want to offer more presentation. While we still plan to do many "real life" presentations, we are also elaborating online presentations for different audiences and on different topics.
OpenAid aims at putting aid transparency on the agenda in German development cooperation. The goals of our campain are:
- Raising awareness in the German public and the German development community about the aid transparency movement and related issues: ICT4D, e-governance, anti-corruption, aid effectiveness and the open data movement in Germany.
- Following up on the commitment and current activities of the German government and German NGOs on aid transparency.
- Promoting public discourse and pilot initiatives to advance the aid transparency agenda.
