Anti-fraud and the Open University of Catalonia organize Barcelona’s meeting of the partners of the EU-funded CO.R.E. project, on corruption risk in emergency procurement, led by the University of Perugia

The head of Data Analysis Team of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia, Mr. Bruno González, is the institution’s representative in this project, which aims to develop a composite indicator of corruption risk in emergency public procurement

The participants in the project gathered at the Anti-Fraud headquarters
The participants in the project gathered at the Anti-Fraud headquarters

Semptember 13th 2022. The Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia and the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) have organized the second in-person meeting of the partners of the EU-funded research project COrruption Risk indicators in Emergency - CO.R.E. This project is led by the University of Perugia (Italy), with the participation of the Fondazione Hallgarten-Franchetti Centro Studi Vila Montesca, the Italina NGO Info.Nodes, Transparency International (TI) Portugal and the Dublin City University. The meeting was held in Barcelona on September, 12th and 13th.

The head of Data Analysis Team of Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia, Mr. Bruno González, is Anti-Fraud’s representative in this project, which aim is to develop a composite indicator of corruption risks in emergency public procurement, useful in extraordinary situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. This composite indicator should facilitate the early detection of corruption risks, as well as evidence-based anti-corruption measures, both by the authorities or by investigative journalists, and by the public in general, within the general framework of public sector accountability.

The first day of the meeting, on September 12th, took place at the UOC facilities. In the first section of the programme, the working paper on privacy constraints and limitations to the use of public data, drawn up by the UOC, was analysed and debated. The main issue of this debate was the compatibility and balance between two paradigms to some extend opposed: transparency and open data versus privacy and data protection. This balance is a key element of any data-driven project.

Regarding this aspect, the Anti-Fraud Office has invited Mr. Ismael Carmona Vallejo, Head of Good Governance Unit of the General Directorate of Civil Service of the Generalitat de Catalunya, with large experience in both transparency and data protection.

Other topics covered in the first day were the status of on-going works to develop the composite indicator; the creation of a public procurement database and a website with the indicator and other data analysis and visualization tools developed by the project; and the mid- and long-term exploitation and sustainability plan of the project.

The second day of the meeting, on September 13th, took place at the headquarters of the Anti-fraud Office. The topics covered were the quality and evaluation plan of the project; the dissemination and communication plan of the project's results; and other financial, management and organizational issues.

The COrruption Risk indicators in Emergency (CO.R.E) project, co-funded by European Union 2020 ISF Program (Grant Agreement 101038790 – CO.R.E. – ISFP-2020-AG-CORRUPT)

The project was presented to the European Commission in February 2021 and was approved at the end of June of that year, with a particularly positive evaluation. The corresponding Grant Agreement was signed in December. The execution of the project started at the beginning of 2022. The total duration of the project is 24 months, between 2021 and 2023.

The Anti-fraud Office participation has taken place in the Working Package 2 of the project, led by the UOC and entitled Data availability and privacy constraints. This working package include the following actions:

  • a study on the availability, quality, interoperability and reuse of data in the field of public procurement;
  • a monographic study on limitations and constraints to the use of data derived from the privacy and personal data protection legal framework;
  • a compendium of good practices in the use of data to improve integrity in public procurement; and
  • a workshop on data needs for the fight against corruption in public procurement, in order to establish a series of principles and standards in this area.

The main part of the Anti-Fraud Office’s participation has occurred in the preparation of the first of the aforementioned studies; the document entitled Working Paper on Public Data Availability, Quality, Interoperability and Reusability.

The project foresees several in person meetings of the participants. The first took place in Perugia, on April 11th and 12th, 2022.