Documenting the use of online and mobile technology to promote transparency and accountability around the world
Suggest a Case StudyThese listings are brief descriptions of projects we have not researched but that may be of interest to others in the technology for transparency field.
"This community aims to catch and punish the state employees who are using state purchases and calls for tender for their own personal gain."
“Bribed? Didn't bribe? Powerless? Victimised?
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Information = knowledge ?
The main question for a project like this is: does information really bring a change? Do people use information responsibly? Pro Acceso is a very ambitious project looking to cover a wide number of cases and information that has been incredibly hard to manage and to understand due to the complicated machine that Venezuelan bureaucracy is. Also, the issue of credibility has been a big one in the last ten years. To gain credibility in a country in which rumors are the basis of a lot of informations, and that is strongly divided is a very difficult task. The objective of expanding information is a very important one, but we should take a moment to look back at the way things have been developing in Venezuelan politics. When the Constitution was about to be changed; it was sold on the streets, almost everywhere... Nevertheless, that didn't make people be aware and informed about the laws that were changing.
It is important to underline the fact that in Venezuela there are a lot of laws created to protect and to empower citizens, but that are actually not known or understood. The constitution has strong laws regarding, for example gender violence, family protection and also accountability. Before heading to new phases of the project and to expand it, it seems important to check if the main objectives are actually being reached. The expansion of this project might find challenges caused by the strong division between government and opposition.