16th IACC

The Defense and Security sector is one of the most opaque sectors of government, yet it wields significant powers and engages in a broad range of activities that create opportunities for corruption, both petty and grand. With corruption in defense establishments there comes loss of public trust and the undermining of operational effectiveness, for example, when defective or inappropriate equipment is purchased. In an effort to better understand these risks, Transparency International UK has developed the Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index, which for the first time evaluates how countries perform in reducing corruption in five key risk areas. This index provides governments, armed forces, civil society and citizens with an important tool to not only identify where corruption manifests in the defense and security sector but also how to advocate for the reforms needed to end the danger it brings.
This panel will begin by providing an overview of the specific issues the Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index evaluates and how civil society can use this information to shape advocacy and engagement strategies. The audience will then hear the real-life experiences and lessons learned of a civil society organization that used the Index to effect change in its defense sector. Following the panel discussion, the audience will break into groups to have a more in-depth discussion with representatives from TI chapters from around the world to develop their own strategies of effective practices and institutional controls to address the 5 corruption risk areas identified in the Index. Through these discussions, participants will learn practical lessons on how civil society can constructively engage and support initiatives to enhance transparency in defense/security budgeting and how to successfully advocate for reform to combat corruption in their own countries.


Opening Panel Discussion

Katherine Dixon, Defence and Security Programme Director, TI United Kingdom

Saif Alhaddi, Advocacy & Outreach Officer, TI Yemen

 

Breakout Session Facilitators

Katherine Dixon, Defence and Security Programme Director, TI United Kingdom

Amira El-Sayed, Civil Society Lead, TI United Kingdom

Zoe Reiter, Americas Regional Program Manager, Transparency International

Chantal Uwimana, Africa Regional Director, Transparency International

Maj. Nathan Kearns, Defence Institute of International Studies, US Department of Defence

 

Breakout Session Problem Owners

Political Risk: Achraf Aouadi, TI Tunisia

Operations Risk: Peter Conze, TI Germany

Financial Risk: Carlos Hernandez, TI Honduras

Personnel Risk: Ronald “Lucky” Menoe, TI South Africa

Procurement Risk: Dedi Haryadi, TI Indonesia

How can Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and open data foster people’s engagement and empower citizens to reduce corruption and improve service delivery? The panel will discuss the role of ICTs and open data in enabling and empowering citizens and civil society to hold public officials to account and whether they can potentially serve as instruments for citizens to socially sanction corruption. While they offer tremendous potential to advance the anti-corruption agenda, involving people and reducing the opportunities for corruption, harnessing this potential requires critical conditions in terms of design, implementation, and use. The panel will explore under which circumstances the use of open data and digital technology can be integrated into and leveraged by other interventions to engage people in driving for real change in the delivery of services.

We aim to understand innovative and effective experiences of open data and ICT-enabled approaches to engage and empower people in order to prevent and reduce corruption, identifying solutions and promising practices while also underscoring the main use and implementation challenges. The panel will also address some of the emerging issues and open questions regarding ICTs and open data. Specifically, the session will discuss:

1. Successful open data and ICT-enabled initiatives for improving service delivery, holding public officials to account, and tackling corruption, including oversight, monitoring and prevention.


2. Using ICTs and open data for monitoring and social sanctioning in contexts where service delivery is plagued by corruption and impunity.


3. The critical success factors that are needed for realizing the full potential of ICTs and open data.


4. The role of different actors regarding ICTs and open data for anti-corruption and how they can promote or enable collaboration between citizens and governments to tackle corruption collectively.


5. New approaches using ICTs and open data, and what could be their potential impact for anti-corruption.