Enhancing transparency and public oversight of anti-corruption data (XK0017)

Brief Description of the Commitment: Strengthen public integrity by improving the digital management and proactive publication of integrity-related data, including asset declarations, conflicts of interest, and integrity plan monitoring. The commitment enhances structured access to this information to support greater transparency, accountability, and public oversight.

Problem Definition
1. What problem does the commitment aim to address?
This commitment addresses the absence of a standardized and easily monitorable system for publishing and managing integrity-related data in Kosovo. In three key areas of public integrity, asset and gift declarations, conflicts of interest, and institutional integrity plans, information is currently fragmented, inconsistently structured, and often not published in accessible or reusable formats. As a result, it is difficult to compare data over time, conduct systematic analysis, or monitor institutional performance.

This limits meaningful transparency and weakens public oversight. Citizens and taxpayers are affected because reduced visibility into integrity mechanisms increases the risk of misuse of public resources and undue influence over decision-making. Civil society organizations, investigative journalists, and researchers face additional barriers due to dispersed and non-standardized data, which constrains evidence-based monitoring and early detection of integrity risks. Public institutions themselves are also affected: without integrated digital systems and clear performance indicators, integrity plans often remain formal documents rather than effective management tools, and conflict-of-interest processes lack public traceability.

The problem occurs at the national level and affects both central and local institutions. It is most visible during periods of heightened integrity risk, such as elections, large public investments, procurement processes, and senior appointments. These challenges have persisted for years due to non-systematic data publication practices, the absence of open and reusable formats, and limited digital mechanisms for continuous monitoring. Over time, this has weakened public trust in integrity systems and led to uneven implementation of anti-corruption safeguards across institutions.

2. What are the causes of the problem?
The problem arises from a combination of regulatory, institutional, technical, and organizational factors that limit the usability of integrity-related data for effective oversight. The central issue is not the absence of data, but the fact that existing information on asset declarations, conflicts of interest, and integrity plans is not structured in a way that supports meaningful transparency and accountability.

Several root causes contribute to this situation:
• Insufficient regulatory standards - Existing rules do not consistently require open, standardized, and machine-readable publication of integrity data, nor do they define unified metadata standards or regular update requirements.
• Limited institutional capacity - Public institutions often lack specialized expertise in data management, quality control, and integrity risk analysis, which affects the accuracy, consistency, and usefulness of published information.
- Non-standardized workflows - Reporting, verification, publication, and follow-up processes are not integrated into a unified operational framework, resulting in fragmented and inconsistent practices.
• Fragmented digital systems - Existing technological tools are not sufficiently interoperable, making monitoring processes largely manual, time-consuming, and difficult to scale.
• A culture of formal compliance - Data publication is frequently treated as a minimum legal obligation rather than as a functional tool for analysis, oversight, and decision-making.

Together, these factors result in integrity data that are difficult to search, compare, and analyze, limiting their usefulness for public oversight and institutional accountability.

Commitment Description
1. What has been done so far to solve the problem?
In recent years, Kosovo has taken important initial steps to digitalize aspects of its anti-corruption framework. A digital asset declaration platform has been developed, including modules for submitting asset and gift declarations, reporting on the implementation of institutional integrity plans, and preparing annual integrity reports. These efforts established a basic digital infrastructure and improved internal administrative processes related to integrity management. However, the public availability and usability of integrity-related data have remained limited. Data publication has not been consistently proactive or standardized, and information is often released in formats that are difficult to search, compare, or reuse. In addition, the absence of integrated systems and measurable performance indicators has reduced the ability to monitor trends and assess the effectiveness of integrity mechanisms.

As a result, previous efforts have strengthened administrative digitalization but have not yet created a comprehensive framework for structured public access, analysis, and oversight of integrity data. The proposed commitment builds on the existing platform by focusing on improving data transparency, usability, and interoperability.

2. What solution are you proposing?
This commitment proposes targeted improvements to the digital management and proactive publication of integrity-related data. It focuses on enhancing the Anti-Corruption Agency's existing platform, developing structured public access to key datasets through a public API or downloadable formats, and standardizing the publication of information on asset declarations, conflicts of interest, and integrity plan monitoring. Unlike previous efforts, which primarily strengthened internal administrative digitalization, the proposed solution prioritizes structured, reusable, and comparable public data. It introduces common publication standards, measurable indicators, and routine monitoring practices that make integrity information easier to access, analyze, and track over time. By improving data usability and transparency, the commitment strengthens public oversight and institutional accountability. It addresses a critical part of the problem - the lack of accessible and monitorable integrity data—while recognizing that broader anti-corruption reforms extend beyond digital transparency. The commitment therefore focuses specifically on the digital governance and data publication dimensions of public integrity.

3. What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment?
The implementation of this commitment aims to produce concrete improvements in the accessibility, usability, and monitoring of integrity-related data, thereby strengthening transparency and public accountability.

Expected outputs
• An enhanced Anti-Corruption Agency digital platform with improved functionality for managing and publishing integrity-related data
• Structured public access to key datasets on asset declarations, conflicts of interest, and integrity plan implementation, through a public API and/or standardized downloadable formats
• Regularly published reports and datasets using common standards and measurable indicators
• Clear guidelines and procedures for proactive publication and routine monitoring of integrity data

Changes in knowledge, capacities, and practices
Strengthened institutional capacity for data management, quality control, and digital transparency within responsible public bodies
• Increased ability of civil society, media, and researchers to analyze integrity data and conduct evidence-based oversight
• Establishment of routine practices for proactive publication and systematic monitoring of integrity information
• Greater use of structured data to support transparency, risk analysis, and evidence-based decision-making

Together, these results will improve the practical functioning of integrity mechanisms by making information more accessible, comparable, and usable for both institutions and the public.

Commitment Analysis
Questions | Answer (if not applicable, just answer with N/A)
1. How will the commitment promote transparency?
This commitment promotes transparency by ensuring the proactive publication of structured, standardized, and reusable data on asset declarations, conflicts of interest, and the implementation of integrity plans. By improving how integrity-related information is organized and published through the Anti-Corruption Agency's digital platform, the commitment makes key public data easier to access, search, and compare.

The introduction of public access through an API and standardized open reports improves citizens' ability to obtain timely and reliable information. Civil society organizations, the media, and researchers will be able to analyze integrity data more effectively, while the general public will benefit from clearer visibility into how integrity mechanisms function in practice.

By shifting from fragmented and document-based disclosure to structured and routinely updated data publication, the commitment increases the transparency of public institutions and strengthens public oversight of integrity-related processes.

2. How will the commitment help foster accountability?
This commitment strengthens accountability by creating regular, standardized, and publicly accessible information on the implementation of key integrity mechanisms. Through structured publication of data and reports on asset declarations, conflicts of interest, and integrity plans, public institutions become more visible and monitorable to citizens.

Public access to integrity data through digital platforms and open formats enables civil society, the media, and citizens to track trends, compare information over time, and assess whether institutions are fulfilling their integrity obligations. The use of measurable indicators and routine reporting establishes a transparent basis for monitoring performance and identifying gaps.

By making integrity-related information consistently available and comparable, the commitment supports evidence-based oversight and reinforces institutional responsibility to respond to identified shortcomings, thereby strengthening public accountability.

3. How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions?
This commitment improves citizen participation by expanding open access to structured integrity data that citizens, civil society organizations, and the media can use to monitor institutional performance and contribute to public debate. By making integrity-related information easier to access and analyze, the commitment enables civic actors to engage more actively in oversight, advocacy, and evidence-based dialogue with public institutions.

Digital access to comparable and regularly updated data supports informed public discussion on integrity risks and reform priorities. Civil society organizations and researchers can use the data to produce analyses and recommendations, while citizens gain clearer insight into how integrity mechanisms operate in practice.

Although the commitment focuses primarily on transparency and data accessibility, it creates stronger foundations for meaningful civic engagement by equipping stakeholders with reliable information to participate in monitoring and improvement of integrity systems.

Commitment Planning
Milestones | Expected Outputs | Expected Completion Date | Stakeholders
Drafting and adoption of secondary legislation establishing standards for digital publication of integrity data
Development, consultation, and adoption of secondary legislation that defines the legal and technical standards for the structured digital publication of integrity-related data. The regulation will clarify institutional responsibilities, data publication formats, update frequency, and minimum transparency standards for asset declarations, conflicts of interest, and integrity plan reporting. |
Draft secondary legislation defining standards for structured publication of integrity data; Conducted stakeholder consultation with relevant institutions and civil society; Final adopted secondary legislation; Published implementation guidance for responsible institutions | Q4 2026 | Lead: Agency for Prevention of Corruption |
Supporting Stakeholders: Government: Agency for Prevention of Corruption; CSOs: Civil society co-implementers and other organizations ensuring inclusive representation of CSOs, including community-based organizations; Others: Donators etj.

Development and operationalisation of public digital access to integrity data
Enhancement of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption digital platform to enable structured public access to integrity-related data. This milestone includes the commissioning of a public API and the upgrade of selected platform modules to support standardized publication of key integrity information. | Functional public API providing structured access to selected datasets on asset declarations and integrity monitoring; Upgraded Agency for Prevention of Corruption digital platform with improved modules for publishing integrity-related information; Public online register of declarable positions available in searchable and downloadable format; Regularly published reports from the systematic monitoring of integrity plan implementation across public institutions; Technical documentation and user guidance for accessing and using published datasets | Q3 2026 (July 2026) |
Lead: Agency for Prevention of Corruption | Supporting Stakeholders: Government: Agency for Prevention of Corruption; CSOs: Civil society co-implementers and other organizations ensuring inclusive representation of CSOs, including community-based organizations; Others: Donators etj.