“With the Open Contracting Data Standard it was like asking me to dig an Olympic pool, but giving me an excavator instead of a teaspoon.”
Juan Pane

Put open data to use

Open data is a powerful tool to track public contracting and to gain insights into what is going on at every stage of the contracting process.

The sheer scale and number of transactions in public contracting – covering a third of all government spending on average – means that the data and documents about contracts will be much, much easier to analyse and track if they are published in an open, accessible, structured, reusable and machine-readable format.

The Open Contracting Data Standard is a free, non-proprietary open data standard for public contracting, implemented around the world. At the heart of the data standard is the idea that it should be possible to follow a contracting process from planning and tender, through to award, contract and implementation through a unique ID.

Because the standard provides guidance on both what to publish and how to publish it, it is possible for the standardized data to be compared and analyzed more easily. Using this data effectively can help governments deliver better value for money, prevent and uncover corruption, and increase competition and better track service delivery.

Useful resources

We want to support you with useful resources at every step of your open contracting journey. Start by learning about the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

Get inspired: stories of data use

Read stories about how open contracting data has been used to increase efficiency, fight corruption through red flags and monitoring, analyze competition and track public service delivery.