# Information and Communications Technology

**To Control Corruption**

The Information Technology Team

USAID/EGAT/EIT/IT

In every sector, information and communications technologies (ICTs) are
powerful tools for controlling corruption. They work particularly well
when they are embedded in broader institutional reforms.

Generally, ICTs for controlling corruption operate by shining a bright
light upon institutional processes. ICTs enhance transparency
particularly at the transactional level, while offering opportunities
for easier access to public records, and establishing linkages among
geographically separated systems for better accountability. At USAID,
sector specialists (e.g. for the environment, agriculture, or education)
identify the specific institutional reforms that are required to control
corruption, while ICT specialists assist their counterparts in finding
the right tools to get the anti-corruption job done.

We offer a few examples, complementing reports from particular sectors.
The key to understanding these examples is the recognition of the
particular role ICTs play within broader institutional reform.

# Environment

Studies in the forestry sector regularly call attention to the problem
of illegal logging. In the Russia Far East region, for example, illegal
logging in some areas constitutes from 30 to 50 per cent of the total
harvested timber. Key multinational non-governmental organizations have
said that enforcement measures are not enough. ICTs can be used in
prevention programs, for example by installing remote sensing and video
monitoring systems, linked to a geographic information system (GIS), to
generate maps from any computer linked to the Internet.

Personal digital assistants (PDAs) have been used successfully to track
wildlife in programs designed to minimize and control poaching., and to
record fisheries catches at dockside for more precise monitoring of
compliance with special environmental regulations. When data on catch
are recorded in the PDA, the boat captain's statement on catch location
can also be recorded and then used in a GIS to generate assessment maps
linked to data on ship movements and catch from other boats. Anomalies
can help track down violations of applicable regulations.

**Procurement**

Procurement scandals are endemic in all sectors, and can have
particularly dire consequences when, for example, inferior construction
materials are illegally substituted, or compensation funds in
public-works projects are diverted. Recently, in Lesotho's Highlands
Water Project, some believe that corruption prevented funds from
reaching the communities to be adversely affected by a new dam. One
company was convicted of accepting bribes totaling more than a quarter
million US dollars.

ICTs in the form of electronic procurement systems can inhibit the
ability of government officials to solicit bribes from bidders. Online
public review of tender documents can assure appropriate competition and
public scrutiny of procedures. The registration of permits online, with
fees paid separately to a commercial bank, can reduce fraudulent
construction practices that lead to structural failures and human
casualties.

# Legal Systems

Isolated courtrooms with little public scrutiny regularly host improper
if not fraudulent proceedings. One innovation is to record court
sessions for public review. ICTs can take this innovation one step
further, through cheap digitization and streaming audio available
anywhere on the Internet for public review. Community information
centers with Internet access in public libraries, schools, universities,
or other facilities can provide a place for the public to go to access
such a resource.

Many jurisdictions are requiring public officials to publicize their
assets and liabilities in order to identify and preclude conflicts of
interest. ICTs can carry this innovation one step further, making such
disclosures more accessible to the public via the Internet through
community information centers, enhancing transparency. The disclosure
documents themselves can be filed electronically, using online forms and
simple document uploading systems, at which point they become
immediately public and accessible.

# Agriculture

Land registries are a frequent locus of corruption. A geographic
information system can link public records on parcel ownership rights to
the payment of taxes or of fees for construction and other permits. Cash
transactions can be handled in one location, neutral to the agency
receiving the cash, while the permit or registration documents
themselves can be filed online at community information centers. Maps
can be generated via the Internet that quickly highlight where fees have
(and have not) been paid, enabling the landholder to identify when a
payment has not been properly registered.

Rules and regulations, for example about public commodity auctions or
export requirements, are often difficult to discern and subject to
arbitrary interpretations by corrupt government officials or by brokers
who exploit their favored access to information to extract fees that
would otherwise be unnecessary. Online publishing of such rules and
regulations, with access through community information centers, would
alleviate this problem. Placing these access points at major ports,
border posts, or transit points would substantially enhance
effectiveness.

Many agriculture programs endeavor to make price information more
readily available to farmers and marketing agents. In Bolivia, USAID's
market access program broadcasts market prices daily on both broadcast
radio and the Internet, resulting in higher revenues for producers.

# Education

Almost anyone who has worked in a low-income community overseas is
familiar with the story of the corrupt schoolmaster who stole the exam
fees of an unwitting student, or who requires payments for after-school
tutorials before a passing mark can be awarded. Innovators like Cisco
have introduced worldwide tutorial and testing systems, with carefully
constructed exam systems to assure the integrity of high-level testing.

In some countries, donated textbooks and other teaching materials rarely
make their way intact to remote schools in rural areas. Online systems
accessible through community information centers can list what was
shipped so that parent associations can compare to what was actually
delivered to their children.

In the Gambia, the Education Management Information System tracks and
ranks teachers by their seniority, language abilities, and subject
specialization for use in making teacher assignments to particular
schools. Such ICT systems shine a bright light, permitting greater
public scrutiny and challenges to questionable decisions, helping
parents assure that their school districts assign their children the
teachers they rightly deserve.

# Energy

Consumers of public utilities frequently pay their usage fees, yet have
their service disconnected anyway. At the utility office in many
countries, there is inevitably no record of payment, and the receipt
presented as proof of payment is discounted as fraudulent. Geographic
information systems that incorporate third-party payment locations and
mapping to confirm proper recording and account status are relatively
easy to implement and can alleviate this kind of corruption.

Consumers can visit kiosks or other types of public Internet access
points, pulling up maps tied to geographic information system (GIS)
databases showing their particular residence or place of business,
color-coded to indicate whether payment has been received. Online
payments using smart cards tied to payroll accounts can appropriately be
implemented in some countries where appropriate banking networks have
been established.

In the mining industry, excise taxes on mined ores and other commodities
are frequently based on inspections at the mines. Frequently what is
officially loaded on trucks at the mines does not match what gets
transferred to ocean-going vessels at the port. Integrated computer
systems linked by satellite can compare receipts and bills of lading,
reducing corruption.

# Conclusion

The key to understanding how information and communications technologies
can reduce corruption is to understand that ICTs are tools used in the
context of broader programs of institutional reform. Thus sector
specialists (e.g. in energy, education, or agriculture) are best
situated to identify problems and construct the necessary reforms. ICT
specialists within USAID work with these sector specialists to identify
the right tools to make those institutional reforms work most
efficiently.

For further information:

Dr. Jeffrey A. Cochrane

USAID Information Technology (EGAT/EIT/IT)

Tel +1 (202) 712-1956, Cell/SMS +1 (301) 728-2160

<http://www.usaid.gov/info_technology/dotcom>

<jcochrane@usaid.gov>