Anti-Corruption Innovation Hub (UK0066)

Objective: To connect and catalyze innovative approaches to anti-corruption.

Status quo: Current efforts to innovate in tackling corruption are often scattered, piecemeal, and do not always utilize the benefits of scale. We need new coalitions to connect social innovators, technology experts, and businesses with law enforcement and civil society organizations to share experience and disseminate good practice that could be replicated and customized in different countries and contexts.

Ambition: Champion the use of innovative ways to report, detect and investigate corruption; collaborate on identifying and supporting, emerging anti-corruption innovations; share good practice and promote the use of anti-corruption innovations, and use established conferences and multilateral stakeholder groups to highlight innovative anti-corruption initiatives and opportunities for collaboration.

4. Anti-Corruption Innovation Hub

Commitment Text:We will incubate an Anti-Corruption Innovation Hub to connect social innovators, technology experts and data scientists with law enforcement, business and civil society to collaborate on innovative approaches to anti-corruption.

Objective:To connect and catalyse innovative approaches to anti-corruption.

Status quo:Current efforts to innovate in tackling corruption are often scattered, piecemeal, and do not always utilise the benefits of scale. We need new coalitions to connect social innovators, technology experts, and businesses with law enforcement and civil society organisations to share experience and disseminate good practice that could be replicated and customised in different countries and contexts.

Ambition:Champion the use of innovative ways to report, detect and investigate corruption; collaborate on identifying and supporting, emerging anti-corruption innovations; share good practice and promote the use of anti-corruption innovations, and use established conferences and multilateral stakeholder groups to highlight innovative anti-corruption initiatives and opportunities for collaboration.

Milestones:

1. Establish Innovation Hub

2. Showcase examples of innovative approaches to tackling corruption at the 2016 OGP Summit in Paris in December 2016

3. Operationalise innovation hub

Responsible institution: Cabinet Office (Government Digital Service)

Supporting institution(s): Department for International Development, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Start date: May 2016

End date: May 2017

Commitment Aim:

This commitment emerged from the UK government's anti-corruption plan in the second action plan and, more specifically, the UK-led May 2016 International Anti-Corruption Summit, when different groups were brought together to discuss anti-corruption activities.^{[Note 32: HM Government ‘Anti-Corruption Plan', https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/388894/UKantiCorruptionPlan.pdf; Thom Townsend and William Gerry, Cabinet Office, 14 September 2017.]} There were no mechanisms or means of sharing ideas or learning, or for building links between, for example, open data innovators and governments. The hub is designed to spread knowledge, create collaborations and champion and spread innovative approaches to identifying corruption between selected countries and organisations.^{[Note 33: Thom Townsend and William Gerry, Cabinet Office, 14 September 2017.]}

Status

Midterm: Limited

The commitment was behind schedule at the end of the first year. The government highlighted their showcasing of developments at the OGP summit in Paris in December 2016 as evidence of the commitment's progress.^{[Note 34: Cabinet Office ‘Open Government Partnership National Action Plan 2016-18:}

Mid-term Self Assessment Report' (UK government report September 2017) passed to author pre-publication. ] However, as of November 2017, ministers were still working with officials on plans for the commitment's promised innovation hub, which was overdue and not yet operational.^{[Note 35: Cabinet Office (2017), Open Government National Action Plan 2016-18: November 2017 Commitment Progress Updates, https://www.opengovernment.org.uk/resource/og-nap-2016-18-november-2017-commitment-progress-updates/ ]}

End of term: Limited

There has been some evidence of movement and continued work but only limited progress with no outputs so far. The UK Home Office (Ministry of the Interior) assumed responsibility for the commitment in late 2017. The Joint Anti-Corruption Unit had ‘contracted a consultant to do scoping work in furtherance of this commitment', with a remit to look into possible ways forward for the policy. At the time of writing it was not clear what this would be. In the final update of April 2018, the UK government outlined how it was continuing to ‘review options to develop and promote innovative approaches to combat corruption and consider how to support this going forward.'

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Did Not Change

Civic Participation: Did Not Change

The original commitment was designed to fill a gap in global anti-corruption work, creating a hub where government, officials, CSOs and others could share knowledge and develop new ideas, of a kind that did not exist anywhere in the world. However, the hub was not put into place or made operational; it had no effect on opening government in either of the three areas. Some progress was made in meetings and discussing ideas. However, the commitment did not result in new information or data being made available, or enable the wider involvement of groups, stakeholders or the public. There was clearly an intent throughout to innovate with technology in some way, given the involvement of ‘innovators, technology experts and data scientists', but this has not happened.

Carried Forward?

This commitment has not been carried forward into a new action plan.