COVID-19: Digital Solutions to Prevent Corruption

COVID-19 has forced governments to make urgent purchases of goods and services such as beds, medicines, hospital supplies and medical equipment. In these procurement processes, cases of corruption would impinge on the effectiveness of efforts to contain the pandemic and involve unnecessary cost overruns that could impact health care for thousands of people.

To reduce the corruption risks associated with public procurement during the COVID-19 emergency, CAF—development bank of Latin America—has published the studyTechnology for Integrity in Times of COVID-19, which shows how new digital solutions, together with an open data policy, could not only change the front line of the fight against coronavirus, but also take a qualitative leap in adopting integrity policies.

“The risks of corruption often increase in times of crisis. But if new technologies are complemented by data analysis for pandemic monitoring, we could be able to reduce the risks. Open data is essential for an optimal management of the health crisis and emergency programs,” says Carlos Santiso, Director of the State Directorate for Digital Innovation.

The publication puts forward three areas in which the supply of goods and services can be shielded from corruption during the COVID-19 crisis:

• Result-oriented accountability: The aim is to ensure the destination of funds administered by governments and multilateral organizations, as well as the results of such expenditure on virus containment measures. Open source applications such as OpenRBF are available, which monitor results and performance in the health, education and government sectors. Combining georeferencing applications on the progress of the pandemic (such as those developed by Singapore, New Zealand and Spain) with the OpenRBF budget transparency scheme would achieve a permanent overlap between sourcing maps for pandemic management and the results to curb it.
  
  
• Disclosure of Emergency Direct Procurement: Disclosure of procurement not only allows citizens to become aware of government actions, but maximizes the level of response to their supply requests. Open procurement helps governments meet their demands under emergency procedures.
  
  
• Digitization in demand aggregation for governments: A well-known instrument in procurement and purchases for both governments and international organizations is the Framework Price Agreement, i.e. an agreement between a buyer and one or more suppliers, for delivery under special conditions of prices and supply of certain goods or services. The digitization of this procedure through online hearings, electronic awards and even penalty for non-compliance through electronic means, generates more transparency and swiftness for the supply of standardized goods necessary to cope with the emergency.

A unique opportunity to reduce corruption in Latin America

The crisis generated by COVID-19 also provides an opportunity for Latin America to adopt integrity policies that reduce corruption in the short, medium and long term. To this end, the use of data and digital technologies will be essential, according to another CAF study recently published.

“Transparency should not be neglected during the crisis, quite the opposite. It is key for Latin American governments to integrate the use of data and new technologies into their procurement processes and thereby mitigate the risks of corruption and tackle the global pandemic in a timely manner," says Santiso.

This second publication makes takes stock of various initiatives that use data analytics and machine learning to alert authorities about the risks of corruption, thus integrating a proactive action approach, based on prevention and early detection of possible crimes. These technologies also increase the effectiveness of judicial or administrative investigations and promote innovation in anti-corruption programs and policies that are based on proven measures such as information campaigns, staff trainings or traditional audit processes.

Success and sustainability of this approach requires countries to implement an ambitious public and cross-cutting agenda that focuses on ensuring data quality, providing infrastructure for storage, and investing in information processing power, as well as coordination between judicial and administrative bodies. Governments’ deterrent power in the data age lies not in their ability to punish, but rather their potential to anticipate and prevent corruption.

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