This was an update sent to members of the Technical Advisory group. If you would like to be part of this group, then please contact Isabel Bucknall (isabel@devinit.org).

 

Dear Colleagues,

I am contacting you with an update on the work of the International Aid Transparency Initiative Technical Advisory Group.

Re-engagement with TAG Members

Following agreement of the IATI standard in February 2011, the role of the TAG has changed to focus more on supporting organisations to publish IATI data. This shift has meant less need for consultation with the wider TAG membership and no call for large scale TAG Workshops, such as those held when defining the standard.

We are, however, very keen to maintain contact and facilitate consultations on various areas surrounding IATI, as implementation progresses. As the Secretariat work with more organisations reporting to the standard, we find that there are areas which still need discussion and clarification, which would be benefit from broader consultation.

This email is the first in a series of quarterly updates on the progress of the TAG and its work.

I would be grateful if you could click here if you DO NOT wish to be part of the TAG and receive these updates. If responsibility for work on the TAG has moved to a different colleague in your organisation, please provide their contact details.

Consultation Procedures

We do not envisage a need to hold any TAG-wide workshops or meetings in the near future. Instead, in order to retain the consulting role of the TAG, we will use the IATI Knowledge Base to post consultation items, and organise teleconferences if necessary, to bring in interested parties into the discussions.

The Knowledge Base has a function which enables you to subscribe to particular discussion areas or discussion posts that you wish to follow or engage with. This automatically sends an email to your account if that area is updated.

If you wish to subscribe to use the Knowledge Base, please click here to register. If you have any trouble registering, then please contact me.  

Work streams and consultation areas

The TAG’s work plan is structured around the following 6 topics. Under the topic headings I have included an update on progress since February and a suggestion of possible consultation topics.

 

1. Maintaining the Standard

Whilst the standard was agreed in February, there remain certain items that require more work (e.g. Recipient country budget identifier). Furthermore, as work on implementation proceeds, there are several questions being raised regarding upgrades and changes and the procedure to approve them.

The standard and code lists are now available on the iatistandard.org website, and work is ongoing to provide more detailed examples of XML for the activity standard.

Potential areas of consultation:

• Recipient country budget identifier
• The schema for sub-national geographic location
• Organisation identifiers
• Improvements to the standard
• Extending the standard
• The change control procedure for the standard, including frequency of updates

                                                                                                                                        

2. Country Pilots

IATI is planning to run four implementation pilots in 2011-2012. The pilot countries are Rwanda, DRC, Colombia and Nepal.

Rwanda and DRC will test automated data exchange using IATI compliant data imported into the Aid Management Systems (AIMS). Nepal will focus on evaluating the benefits in using IATI compliant data to compare with locally generated data. There are still ongoing discussions with Colombia regarding the specific tests for the pilot there.

There are not likely to be any areas to consult for the country pilots, but reports of the results will be made widely available.

 

3. Supporting Donor Implementation

DFID, the Hewlett Foundation, the World Bank and Development Initiatives Poverty Research are now publishing IATI compliant data. A further six organisations are planning to publish prior to HLF4 in Busan in November.

Two implementation workshops have been held by the TAG Secretariat, bringing together 7 signatories and 3 observers to discuss a range of issues around implementation, from change management procedures to technical solutions.

We encourage implementing organisations to post questions and discussions on the Knowledge Base around any implementation issues. If you are interested, please engage in these discussions or post a new topic.

 

4. Broadening the membership of IATI

The purpose of this work is to engage with a wider group of assistance providers. This includes humanitarian organisations, NGOs, Foundations and non-DAC donors and South-South Cooperation organisations.

So far, work has focused on Foundations, particularly in our engagement with the Foundation Center who are working to align their E-grant reporting system with the IATI standard.

An NGO Working Group is being formed to discuss approaches to the standard and potential exclusion policies for CSOs interested in publishing IATI data. This process will be led by the INGO Accountability Charter and the CSO Open Forum (represented by Beris Gwynne and Brian Tomlinson respectively) and facilitated by the TAG. They will report to the TAG on progress later in the year.

 

5. Developing the Registry

The registry is currently undergoing a final stage of development that will enable organisations publishing IATI data to register themselves on the website and improve the organisation record so that users can see an overview of the context for an organisation’s data, with information on exclusions, licenses, coverage, etc.

Potential areas of consultation:

• Extending functionality

  

6. Promoting Accessibility of IATI

Although making raw IATI data accessible to users is not part of IATI’s remit, it is important that we catalyze a community of interested information intermediaries who can start using the data, and initiate a feedback process to enable providers of data to understand where potential gaps might be.

Development Gateway and World Bank Foundation hosted a workshop around accessibility of IATI data in Washington DC in April this year, which generated many useful discussions.

Furthermore, it is now possible to see some potential uses of IATI data at www.aidinfolabs.org. Development Gateway is working with the TAG Secretariat on a tool to consolidate IATI data.

There is a well-populated section of the Knowledge Base outlining tips for data users, potential applications and ideas and considerations for using IATI data.

 

 

I look forward to hearing from you with any questions regarding the work of the Technical Advisory Group and hope that you find the Knowledge Base a useful forum for discussing and consulting on the various topics around the International Aid Transparency Initiative.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Isabel Bucknall

(isabel@devinit.org)

On Behalf of the IATI TAG Secretariat