Opening Aid Data for Better Development
InterAction’s October 19, 2011 event, “Opening Aid Data for Better Development,” brought together representatives from InterAction, the World Bank, U.S. State Department and Development Gateway to present their pioneering tools designed to improve the overall effectiveness of development assistance by making aid data accessible and usable to the public, partners and recipients. The presenters explained how their new online tools can increase donor accountability, improve the American understanding of foreign assistance and lead to stronger partnerships and more coordinated decision-making and program implementation. Their presentations highlighted the transformation of information-sharing within the aid community and explored how their tools may evolve in the future to continue the trend towards transparency in aid data.
InterAction presented on “NGO Aid Map,” an initiative focused on collecting information on NGOs’ work at the project level and making it accessible to donors, NGOs, businesses, governments and the public through an online, interactive mapping tool. NGO Aid Map currently hosts three sub-sites, focused on NGO work in food security, Haiti, and the Horn of Africa.
The World Bank presented on “The World Bank Finances,” a website that allows the public to explore raw data about the World Bank’s finances. The numerous easy-to-use tools on the website allow everyone to “slice and dice” datasets; visualize data; share it with site users and through social networks; or take it home with a mobile app.
The State Department presented on “Foreign Assistance Dashboard,” an initiative created in response to the principles of the Paris Declaration and President Obama’s Open Government Initiative. Foreign Assistance Dashboard allows a wide variety of stakeholders to examine, research and track USG financial investments in an accessible and easy-to-use format, including graphs, charts and heat maps.
Development Gateway presented on “AidData,” a global project database that provides products and services that promote the dissemination, analysis and understanding of development finance information. In addition to providing access to data on nearly 1 million records of development finance activities through a web portal, AidData makes this information easy to access and analyze through projects such as geocoding.
Presenters and links to PowerPoint presentations:
- Julie Montgomery, Senior Manager and Technical Specialist, Innovation and Learning, InterAction, on “NGO Aid Map”
- Prasanna Lal Das, Sr. Program Officer, Office of the Controller, The World Bank, on “The World Bank Finances”
- Jim Painter, Managing Director, Office of the Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, State Department, on “Foreign Assistance Dashboard”
- Steve Davenport, Senior Director for Business Development, Innovation & Partnerships, Development Gateway, on “AidData”
