On December 10-11, 1991 Open Data Incubator hosted Anticorruption Weekend. It aimed to find clear innovative IT solutions that can overcome the corruption schemes, and will be able to provide quality service to citizens and businesses.
1991 Open Data Incubator is a nonprofit incubator that helps independent IT- developers to create startups and services based on large arrays of open data that will be useful for Ukrainian citizens, companies and public authorities.
On December 10-11, 1991 Open Data Incubator hosted Anticorruption Weekend. It aimed to find clear innovative IT solutions that can overcome the corruption schemes, and will be able to provide quality service to citizens and businesses on the following areas: Analysis of ProZorro government procurement; Monitoring of tariffs for freight and passenger transport; Improving the quality of local transport and suburban passenger services; Monitoring of road repairs; Monitoring of customs and so on.
Top IT solutions were chosen by a jury, whose members represented different environments, allowing to consider the suggested ideas from different perspectives. From business: Tetiana Pashyna, “Deloitte”, Olena Byetsa, mentor at 1991 and an independent consultant; from the Ministry of Infrastructure: Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Dmytro Romensky and Director of the information technology Department Yegor Stefanovich; and investor: Yevhen Sarantsov, DiTCom, Zakupki-online.com, etc.; and a representative of the IRF Liliya Baran, Democratic Practice Program Initiative Manager. The jury chose five winning teams:
- BI Bot is a links evaluation system among enterprises that use budget funds and public procurement;
- Seven red lines is a device for monitoring rail cars or shipping containers;
- DRevenueBoost is a set of measures that will help to improve the UZ management;
- Uleak is a platform based large data for easy identification of corruption risks;
- e-service Vagon (BussPass, ACy) is a cars control system.
Weekend was the final step 1991 Open Data Incubator’s selection of the incubation program’s future residents. Program residents will work on innovative services that will be presented at the end of the program and will provide transparent processes of Ukraine’s infrastructure management and will help to set up interaction between government agencies and the public.
2-month mentoring program, government support, assistance in securing investment, access to investment funds and donors, PR-support, access to mentors and advice, as well as an office with all necessary equipment are waiting for incubator residents.
Incubator is supported by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine which is trying to submit all the necessary data for projects. Volodymyr Omelian, Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, commented further changes in the structure of the Ministry, and plans for integrating the service after incubation program, “I believe that IT-tools is a clear answer to the problem of corruption. We are creating a nation of intelligent people. Our heroes have to be scientists, IT-specialists, not prosecutors or judges. This is the future. And the fact that now we are trying to create something like that at the Ministry of Infrastructure is a new line of so-called digital infrastructure. I think that we will succeed for 1991’s and many other friends’ who are here good support.”
Anticorruption weekend was preceded by a series of interviews carried out by Deloitte Ukraine in partnership with the incubator 1991 and supported by the Ministry of Infrastructure. The result was eighteen exposed widespread corruption schemes. Tetiana Pashyna, Forensic Department Senior Manager at “Deloitte” (Ukraine) said, “Over the past 2 months, “Deloitte” experts ran more than 20 interviews with transport market’s participants, professional and public organizations’ representatives. This made it possible to determine the most significant corruption problems that hinder the development of the infrastructure sector. Among them are ProZorro system’s manipulations, unclear tariffs calculation, inefficient use of state property and so on.”
Yevhen Bystrysky, Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation, says, “It’s not enough to have numerous data that reveal a panorama of the public funds’ use. Not enough to have data of tens, hundreds of thousands of electronic declarations, which include quantitative information. This huge quantitative information should work for civil society and that is why we need to process and transform it into the quality of consolidated knowledge, evidence and indicators to monitor the integrity of the authorities. For efficient detection of corruption, conflict of interest, inefficient use of public finances “closed zones”. 1991 Open Data Incubator’s Anticorruption weekend is the real beginning of the construction and development of such tools.”
For more information, contact:
Nina Lakhno spokesman,
099 316 7997, ninokkluchik@gmail.com
Yuliya Guseva, the press service manager
