How the Open Contracting Infrastructure Data Standard Aims to Bring Transparency Across the Globe
In today’s digital world, transparency is key. Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standard (OC4IDS) aims to bring transparency in infrastructure investment across the globe and help countries meet their United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standard is an open-source data standard that can be applied to all types of infrastructure projects and hold governments accountable by helping them show what they have invested in and how it has been spent.
OC4IDS also allows citizens to see where the money went to better understand their country’s priorities and make decisions about which projects are important enough to support tax money.
The Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standard (OC4IDS) is developed jointly by CoST — the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative and the Open Contracting Partnership — OCP. OCP’s goal is to have OC4IDS adopted by as many governments and organizations as possible so that everyone can get involved and be accountable for their actions.
Open Contracting Partnership has already released a version of the standard, which can be accessed from:
Too often, governments invest in projects without proper planning or oversight, resulting in cost overruns and corruption. The Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standard will help prevent this by providing a common language for sharing data between governments, investors, and citizens.
This will help to ensure that projects are planned and executed efficiently and effectively.
Implementation of OC4IDS around the world
The Africa freedom published a data visualization of which countries are publishing or in the process of publishing data in OC4IDS standard.
Keywords: Open Contract for Infrastructure Data Standard, transparency, infrastructure investment, United Nation Sustainable Development Goals, data sharing, World Bank, Open Knowledge International. CoST Infrastructure Initiative, Africa Freedom of Information Centre
