A platform connects people to crowdsource actionable data on corruption, offers training and educational activities, and helps find solutions and close legislative gaps.
CORRUPTION IS INGRAINED IN DAILY TRANSACTIONS
Ukraine is fighting two parallel wars – the war to secure its territorial integrity and the war against very-well organised large-scale corruption. This type of corruption is deeply rooted in daily economic, social and political transactions. To conduct effective counter-corruption work, the Innovation and Development Foundation launched a project to support the prevention and investigation of corruption through civic engagement at a local level.
CROWDSOURCING INVESTIGATIONS
The goal of this project is to counteract corruption in Ukraine by supporting cooperation between activists, professionals and the public to uncover corruption webs at local and national levels. To achieve this goal, the project launched a platform crowdsourcing investigations of corruption called WikiInvestigation. The platform provides a unique opportunity to connect individuals and groups and delivers actionable analytical data, which can be passed on to law enforcement agencies. Its functioning mechanism is similar to Wikipedia, as it allows users to create investigations and download data, while other users can add supplementary information. The project distributes information using numerous social media communication channels. Besides, training and educational activities are offered to interested individuals on both local and regional levels, regardless of their profession, gender or ethnicity. Materials are distributed electronically and include detailed investigative manuals on open source investigation techniques.
SOCIETY ACTIVELY SUPPORTS ANTI-CORRUPTION EFFORTS
Finally, society has the chance to get directly involved in investigating anti-corruption cases. The project provides opportunities for cooperation with activists and professional lawyers. It also contributes to preventing corruption by pushing for regulatory and administrative reforms and engaging with advocacy activities through developing solutions and closing legislative gaps. The project has been implemented in five major Ukrainian cities. In the three years, it has been running, the collaborative platform grew in content, and the investigations developed in quality. Significant maintenance investments have been made to ensure the platform continues to work efficiently and effectively.
Crowdsourcing, connecting power of different individuals, is the most effective way to combat corruption.
