Geo-referencingBenefits, Methodology and Opportunities

Presentation to IATI TAG ConferenceOctober 5, 2010

Overview

Geo-referencing of foreign aid projects

– Benefits– Methodology– Experiences: Mapping for Results Partnership– Next Steps

Donor Transparency and Targeting of Need

• Track funds at the sub-national level; identify specific locations of projects

• Mash up aid flows with other data layers (e.g. poverty maps) to explore aid flows vs. needs in different sectors

• Allow researchers, managers, and other stakeholders to examine relationship between aid and other socioeconomic indicators

World Bank Projects in Nepal

Population Density and Active World Bank Projects

Poverty and Active World Bank Projects

Recipient Feedback

• Need for on the ground information– Lack of information about outcomes– No mechanism to give recipients a voice in aid

• Enable stakeholders to better assess aid performance; enhance dialogue between recipient governments and donors on aid allocation.

• Combine with SMS technology to enable crowdsourcing and create feedback loops.

Donor Coordination

• Display activities of multiple donors to inform the geographic coordination and planning process within recipient countries.

• Expose spatial financing gaps and disadvantaged areas not targeted by donor community.

• Combine with sub-national socioeconomic indicators to facilitate country aid and budgeting planning.

Leveraging Geo-Referenced Data to Make Aid Better

• Improves quality of aid information

• Increases transparency in the aid process

• Enhances accountability

• Combines with other project information (sectoral, commitment amount, closing dates, etc.) to provide complete geographic country aid portfolio.

Geo-Coding and AidData

• Methodology for geo-coding project data at the sub-national level • Developed by AidData with Uppsala University, Sweden

– Standardized. Allows for standardization and precision across donors

– High quality. Double coding and arbitration by experienced BYU professors; specialized software to enable accurate coding and arbitration

– Expert team with research assistants trained in coding methodology

– Mashable. Data can be used by any Geographic Information provider (e.g. ESRI, FortiusOne, etc.) and can then be overlayed with other layers

Geo-coding pilot

• World Bank Mapping for Results Partnership– Team of 10 geo-coders and 1 arbitrator, 8 weeks

– Geo-coders geo-tagged all active World Bank projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, and select countries in Asia

– Team is now creating visualizations:• Enabling users to see where aid is directed, identify gaps, and

improve planning and coordination

Mapping for Results Initiative

Next Steps

• Combining geo-coded data with SMS crowdsourcing technology

• Increasing availability and granularity of sub-national needs indicators (i.e. DHS, AICD, UCDP)

• Geo-referencing larger subset of donor community to improve coordination

Next Steps

• Geo-referencing historic projects to examine trends and assess aid effectiveness

• Coding at multiple points in the funding process (planning, budget implementation, assessment)

• Increasing accessibility through mobile phone applications