The Global Impact of Open Data

Chapter 3. Openaid in Sweden

Enhanced Transparency and Accountability in Development Cooperation

By Ali Clare, Stefaan Verhulst and Andrew Young

Summary: Sweden has a long tradition of openness, democracy and public access to information. In 2010, a reform agenda for Swedish development cooperation (“Openaid”) was launched by the government to bring increased transparency to donor funding through opportunities created by technological advances. Part of this reform agenda included an Aid Transparency Guarantee that required public actors to make available all documentation and public information related to international development cooperation. This spurred the development of the openaid.se site by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) in April 2011. The data hub, built on open government data, visualizes when, to whom and why aid funding was paid out and what the results were. The reforms are seen to be an important force for enhanced transparency and accountability in development cooperation at an international level and increased cooperation and involvement of more actors in Swedish development policy.

Dimension of Impact: Improving Government—Tackling Corruption and Transparency

Key Takeaways:

• Open data can be used to increase the transparency and accountability of distinct groups simultaneously. While traditionally viewed as a means for holding government to account, openaid.se demonstrates the capability ...