No country is completely free of corruption. From police officers taking bribes to turn a blind eye to crime on the streets to politicians promising big government contracts to their friends in the private sector, it exists everywhere.
Corruption not only costs taxpayers millions, but also brews citizen distrust and disengagement. Investigations often rely on random spot-checks and whistleblowers, proving to be inconsistent at best. But new advances in data-driven investigation can help agencies expose corruption more quickly and accurately, as the world moves from paper trails to data trails.
The development sector is far from immune to corruption. Development aid has hotly been contested, as a means to cause more corruption and suffering than solving any real problems. There are black holes, where organisations simply lose sight of the money. As Dambisa Moyo argues ‘The most obvious criticism of aid is its links to rampant corruption. Aid flows destined to help the average African end up supporting bloated bureaucracies in the form of the poor-country governments and donor-funded non-governmental organizations.’
It is not only that the money is not given to those you need it, but it makes life worse for them. Corruption has a disproportionate impact on the poor and most vulnerable, increasing costs and reducing access to services, including health, education, and justice. For example, there are long-term effects of counterfeit drugs or vaccinations on the health outcomes of children and the life-long impacts that may have on them.
This inevitably puts people off the idea of giving their money or part of their taxes towards aid, believing that it will not help the man on the street, but end up in the pockets of the already-wealthy. Effectively, corruption is one of the largest barriers to eradicating extreme poverty.
But because this has been an issue for so long, does not make it insurmountable. A successful anti-corruption strategy not only has to be formed of people across paths, but also use the latest advanced technologies to capture, analyze, and share data to prevent, detect, and deter corrupt behavior.
The World Bank, and many other large development sector and multilaterial organisations have been using innovative technologies to confront corruption and to help foster greater trust and accountability, particularly in more fragile and conflict environments.
In Brazil, a data analytics trial in the northeastern state of Ceará explored how mobile surveys and scientific techniques can be used to uncover suspicious patterns of interactions between public service providers and users. In the first experiment, patient feedback provided through mobile phones was combined with administrative data from hospital services. The second experiment investigated how survey and administrative data could be used to find anomalies in the environmental licensing process. While bribery data collected through mobile phones offered inconclusive results, administrative data were used effectively to identify corruption red flags.
As data collection improves, along with the methodology, technology and analysis that support it does. Better data collection is by no means a ‘one-glove-fits-all’ solution for corruption in the development sector. Complicated problems have no easy solutions. Corruption will need a multifaceted and multilayered solution, but data can be part of that.
By taking the first steps in using data technology to combat corruption, development sector organisations will improve faith in the system, allowing people to feel more at ease at giving money, whether through charity or taxes. When it works, it’s a win-win situation.
onsundays.tech.blog 