Transparency International Latvia (Sabiedrība par atklātību – Delna) on April 26, 2024 from 11 AM to 12.30 PM will present online the prototype of a newly developed digital tool that helps to identify companies that import goods from Belarus and Russia and at the same time participate in public procurement in Latvia. Delna organises the event in cooperation with project partners Estonian and Finnish chapters of Transparency International and highlights the role of open data in preventing security risks and fighting corruption in the Nordic-Baltic region. We invite representatives of civil society, state institutions and companies and anyone interested to participate in the event. The working language is English. Register here until April 25 ->.
Open data is critical to citizen oversight and anti-corruption efforts, as it improves institutional transparency and accountability. By making information readily available to the public, open data enables citizens and civic organizations to effectively monitor the activities and expenditures of various public and private sectors.
Open data can be used by the public and researchers to uncover and shed light on suspicious and criminal activity. They can play an important role in identifying and detecting corruption and other criminal activities, as well as investigating and preventing security risks. At the event, we will present a prototype of one particular tool, which has been developed by a team formed by Delna. This tool, using open data, shows us that there are still certain companies that import goods from Belarus and Russia and at the same time participate in public procurement in Latvia. We believe that these companies are a significant threat to Latvia’s security. This is just one example of how citizens, using publicly available data, can discover what the state authorities have not discovered so far. – stresses the director of Delna, Inese Tauriņa.
In addition, experts from Latvia, Finland and Estonia will discuss the availability of open data and the possibilities of using them in research, they will discuss the changes in regulatory acts that need to be made in order to significantly improve the possibilities of working with open data.
Programme of the presentation event:
- Presentation of the prototype of the developed tool.
- Experiences of experts and journalists on the importance of open data in research and journalism in Estonia, Finland and Latvia, as well as on the importance of data in preventing security risks.
- Panel discussion on the availability of open data and challenges in the project’s partner countries, on the recently publicized information about the deletion of political party donation data and interest and asset declarations after a certain period of time.
The project partners Transparency International chapters in Latvia, Estonia and Finland have also developed a comparative analysis of national approaches to the use of open data in the fight against corruption. You can find the analysis here->.
The programme of the event can be found here->.
More information: Jēkabs Kārlis Rasnačs, Project Manager at Transparency International Latvia (Sabiedrība par atklātību – Delna), phone number: +37129216268, jekabs.rasnacs@delna.lv.
This press release has been produced with the financial support from the Nordic Council of Ministers. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the coordinators of this project and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
