THE PROBLEM

Around the world, anti-corruption activists from all backgrounds are finding innovative technological methods to better expose and understand the many ways that corruption manifests. But all too often, anti-corruption initiatives are often poorly coordinated across sectors and lack the broad audience needed to support their growth.

The Anti-Corruption Innovation Hub will connect anti-corruption stakeholders from all sectors and backgrounds, endeavouring to find solutions to the challenge of corruption more effective and inclusive than existing approaches.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE SUMMIT

At the Anti-Corruption Summit the UK committed to launch an Anti-Corruption Innovation Hub “with other countries to support social innovators, technology experts, and data scientists to collaborate with law enforcement and civil society organisations on innovative approaches to anti-corruption”. The commitment was reiterated in the UK’s 2016-2018 Open Government Partnership National Action Plan.

The goal of the Hub is to:

“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.”

Several countries have expressed interest in participating in the Hub: Switzerland, Indonesia, Spain, Georgia, UAE, Australia, Norway and France. The Omidyar Network will provide support to the Hub. In addition Thomson Reuters, Vodafone and Transparency International UK have also expressed interest in working with the UK during the incubation phase.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE?

In its Anti-Corruption Strategy: 1 Year Update, the Government stated that it had “reviewed the options to develop and promote innovative approaches to combat corruption and in spring 2018 consulted with a range of stakeholders to undertake mapping of the existing landscape. We judged that there was not a compelling case for establishing a standalone initiative in this space at that time.”

It went on to say, “More broadly we continue to promote innovative ways of working, as shown in the leadership centre at the Egmont Group which was conceived and driven by us. We will continue to promote new and innovative ways to tackle corruption, including through using new technology.”