We have been working with the African Data Initiative to develop an easy tool for analysing our datasets. The African Data Initiative created R-Instat, a free, open-source statistical software that is easy to use and does not require statistical training or advanced computer skills. As a result of our collaboration, ADI has added a specific menu for analysing procurement data using our red flag methodology. You can […]
Ghana workshop: Analysing red flags in procurement
What do you get if you cross anti-corruption activists with mathematicians? It’s no joke. This was exactly what we did in Cape Coast, Ghana, recently, bringing these two groups together to analyse procurement data for evidence of corruption ‘red flags’ in a two-day hackathon at AIMS Ghana. The anti-corruption world has a tendency to pin its hopes on transparency as a solution, and recently in […]
Getting smart about data helps tackle corruption
The G20 made tackling corruption a priority in 2017, highlighting in particular the harm caused by corruption in impeding the development of the poorest countries, threatening market integrity and distorting open competition. This damage is nowhere more evident than in public procurement. Public money is wasted, infrastructure is built to poor standards, public services are provided inadequately. Yet tracing corruption in contracting is often very […]
Controlling Corruption in Development Aid: New Evidence from Contract-Level Data
Following scandals about corruption in foreign aid, and in a political climate that increasingly questions the legitimacy of development assistance, donors are under pressure to control how their funds are spent. At the same time, they also face pressure to trust recipient governments to disburse project funds themselves, so as to build capacity in developing countries. This paper assesses under which conditions donor regulations are […]
Data, Software and Talent: Turning Open Data into a useful Anti-Corruption Tool for Africa
For years, campaigners have lauded the benefits of transparency as a policy solution to corruption. That message was gradually refined as researchers noted that transparency was effective as an anti-corruption tool only if it led to increased accountability, and that this only happened in conditions where the overall institutional environment was conducive. More recently, open data – data about the activities of governments and public […]