Using Big Data to Improve Public Management

“Monitor Ciudadano” for Transparencia por Colombia (TpC) is the main open and public data platform on corruption in Colombia, and has become an input for public oversight entities, as well as for journalists and researchers in matters related to transparency and corruption in the public sector.  

In recent years, this initiative has benefited from new technologies, thanks to Datasketch, a startup with expertise in data science and digital platforms, which has helped develop new platforms for data use, display and download.

According to the study “GovTech and the future of the government: the case of Datasketch in Colombia,” edited by CAF—development bank of Latin America—, the startup’s work on data management helped TpC find new partners such as the United Nations Development Program and Colombia’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies, thus strengthening and scaling the project. Today, “Monitor Ciudadano” has a more accessible design, which allows the free download of databases, and has issued its third report entitled “Anatomy of Corruption Facts in Colombia 2016-2018,” which has been widely disseminated in the media nationwide.

In addition, Datasketch developed a display platform for the Memory and Conflict Observatory (OMC) of the National Center for Historical Memory of Colombia, which allows to document acts of violence occurring in the context of the Colombian armed conflict,by integrating different social and institutional sources and standardization of input and classification criteria.

With an initial of data set 187 cases of corruption in the nation’s “peace territories,” the platform helped TpC to produce the first report on the corruption landscape in Colombia entitled: “Corruption in Peace Territories, 2010-2016,” which was published in August 2017.  In 2018, the team at “Monitor Ciudadano” expanded its investigative capacity and focused on tracking campaigns of presidential candidates, in the context of that year’s presidential election.

The OMC display platform is the largest public data platform on the armed conflict in Colombia during the 1958–2018 period. This platform and the associated database represent a relevant input law enforcement agencies, journalists, researchers and the general public in relation to this conflict. Between August 2018 and September 2019, this platform received 85,000 visits.

Lastly, the publication highlights some recommendations for effective promotion of such solutions in the countries of the region. These recommendations include:

1. Promoting greater understanding among governments of the region of the economic benefits of having GovTech entrepreneurship ecosystems.
2. Implementing initiatives for diagnosis, understanding and monitoring local technology entrepreneurship GovTech ecosystems.
3. Modernizing regulatory and institutional frameworks, as well as budget procedures that govern public procurement, to incorporate procurement models that facilitate association with technology startups.
4. Consolidating open governance and open data policies and initiatives.
5. Promoting in the region the creation and consolidation of bodies that provide support services or financing to GovTech ventures (investment funds, incubators and accelerators), which could include the creation of regional financing funds.
6. Reinforcing education policies that help develop talent in areas related to this type of entrepreneurship.

This publication is part of the “Policy Briefs” series prepared by CAF, designed in particular for public policy makers, public officials, international partners and all those interested in innovative proposals to improve public management and services to citizens. These are short documents focused on particular topics to disseminate knowledge for action, aimed at providing tools to promote digital transformation, as well as foster public innovation and improve lawmaking and public integrity, even in cities. They present cases concisely, proposing policy options to address it and recommendations to tackle the problem. The articles also recall a few of the region’s success stories, which can be taken into account by the various national and sub-national stakeholders.

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