AidData

In the Spotlight: AidData

Introducing AidData 2.0

December 16, 2011

AidData launched its new and improved website last month, featuring more content and new data and marking an expansion in the program's mission and scope. What began as a project to build a new kind of development assistance database has evolved into a broader initiative that aims to increase the accessibility and relevance of development finance information for a wide range of stakeholders. The new website highlights innovative projects to find new ways of gathering, managing, and visualizing development finance information, such as geocoding and crowdsourcing. Maps that show the geographical distribution of specific donor-funded activities offer a powerful way to help decision makers and citizens ask the right questions about aid allocation and effectiveness.

Those looking for data will find many new resources on the AidData site. AidData Raw is a new repository of stand-alone datasets that have not yet been vetted for inclusion in the main AidData database. It includes geo-location, project evaluation, and non-DAC donor datasets, as well as links to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) registry of aid activities. AidData 2.0 also includes a new collection of replication datasets associated with influential aid allocation and effectiveness studies, and many other new datasets for researchers. Soon, dashboards for key sectors will be added to the site, highlighting key trends and actors, and connecting activity-level data with other relevant resources.

In addition, the main AidData database has been updated to include the latest release of the OECD's Creditor Reporting System data, and additional data sources, such as:

• African Development Bank (2009-2010)
• African Development Fund (2008-2010)
• Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development (2007-2010)
• India (2005-2010, Ministry of Finance & Ministry of External Affairs)
• Islamic Development Bank (1975-2008)
• Kuwait (2007-2009, Kuwait Fund for Economic Development)
• Latvia (2008-2010)
• Nigerian Trust Fund (2007-2010)
• Poland (2007-2010)
• Saudi Arabia (2005-2009, Saudi Fund for Development)
• United Arab Emirates (2008-2010, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development)

Please send any feedback and suggestions for improving the website to info@aiddata.org. We look forward to hearing from you.

AidData and World Development

October 6, 2011

In November 2011, World Development will publish a special journal issue featuring new research that relies upon AidData as its primary source of aid information. The special issue represents an effort to study aid allocation and aid impact with new evidence that was previously unavailable. It will feature twelve articles from scholars such as Homi Kharas from the Brookings Institution and William Easterly, author of The White Man’s Burden. These articles included in the special issue explore a wide variety of topics, such as benchmarking donor transparency practices, the effectiveness of health and education assistance, and aid's impact on violent armed conflict. The introductory essay can be found here.

AidData RA's in the News

September 29, 2011

In the spotlight this week are AidData RA's Alena Stern, Alex Atkins, and Kedar Pavgi. Alena Stern returned from her second trip to Uganda this semester, where she was working in partnership with UNICEF on an AidData crowd-sourcing trial. Alena's work at AidData and in Uganda aims to increase the overall effectiveness of foreign aid. To read the full article, click here.

Last month, Alex Atkins and Kedar Pavgi attended the Athgo's Global Innovation Forum on Climate Change and Constructive Entrepreneurship at the World Bank. The forum brought over 100 young entrepreneurs and college students together to discuss innovative ways to further global development. To find out more about the forum, click here.

Michael Tierney Interviews with NPR

September 26, 2011

Michael Tierney, Hylton Associate Professor of Government and International Relations at the College of William and Mary, was recently interviewed by NPR.

 

Listen to Professor Tierney's "Making Foreign Aid Accountable" interview here.

 

AidData names Brad Parks and Stephen Davenport as Executive Directors

September 16, 2011

AidData, now entering its third year, has appointed Brad Parks and Stephen Davenport as its new Executive Directors. This represents a shift towards a long-term partnership between Brigham Young University, the College of William and Mary and Development Gateway, from its origins as an informal partnership between the three institutions.

Brad Parks is based at the Institute for Theory and Practice and will oversee AidData's research initiatives and its data collection, coding and standardization activities. Stephen Davenport of Development Gateway will oversee AidData's work with partners on innovation, data visualization, and international standards for aid information and transparency.

Visiting Research Associate Daniel Gamboa Gálvez

September 16, 2011

AidData welcomes Visiting Research Associate Daniel Gamboa Gálvez. Daniel will be assisting with data collection and translation from South and Central American bilateral and multilateral donors, in an effort to increase the availability of data from donors in these regions. Daniel is currently pursuing his Masters Degree in International Cooperation for Development at Instituto Mora, Mexico City.

 

AidData Enters Aid Mapping Prototype into Apps for Development Competition

March 20, 2011

AidData has submitted its mapping prototype – Development Loop – in the World Bank’s Apps for Development Competition. ThAidData is a partnership between Brigham Young University, the College of William and Mary, and Development Gateway. Development Loop is also supported by Esri. The Development Loop app allows users to visualize the geocoded locations of foreign aid projects. The GIS application displays World Bank and African Development Bank projects geocoded as part of the “Mapping for Results” initiative, a partnership between AidData and the World Bank. In addition to foreign aid projects, the app contains GlobalGiving “Success Stories” – field reports on the effectiveness of individual aid projects – and sub-national socioeconomic indicators including poverty rates, population density, infant mortality, and child malnutrition.

View a demo of the Development Loop application here:

From January 31st to February 28th, the general public voted on their favorite applications submitted to the Apps for Development contest. AidData’s Development Loop placed amongst the top 10 of 107 submissions, receiving over 200 votes. The official vote, as determined by 9 judges from leading information technology firms and development organizations, will be released in mid-April.

Geocoding and crowdsourcing technology have the potential to change the way that foreign aid is delivered and monitored. According to Stephen Davenport, a Senior Director at Development Gateway, “Using a platform like Development Loop, donors can more appropriately and efficiently respond to the needs of aid beneficiaries. These same beneficiaries can then give feedback on the results of aid projects and hold donors accountable for their promises. AidData is currently exploring different ways to encourage donors and aid beneficiaries to use crowdsourcing platforms to create more impact on the ground.”

PLAID and AidData Host Conference in Oxford, UK

March 22-26, 2010 | University College, Oxford, UK

On March 22, 2010, the AidData team held the Aid Transparency and Development Finance Conference at University College in Oxford, UK to make the PLAID/AidData database available to the public for the first time. The conference continued over three days and included presentations and panel discussions featuring many leading development practitioners, researchers, and advocates. Among these, Stephen Knack from the World Bank, Homi Kharas from the Brookings Institute, and Ngaire Woods of University College.

More Information | Register

PLAID and Development Gateway's AiDA Project Merge to Form AidData

December 1, 2009 | Washington, DC

Project-Level Aid (PLAID) and Development Gateway have merged their efforts to track development finance and cooperation. They are working together to create a joint, easily accessible and independent repository of aid activities. This tool will combine all of the aid data in PLAID and AiDA as well as utilize innovative analytical tools developed at both institutions to provide users with an accurate and up-to-date picture of development information.

The new partnership will continue to provide development practitioners, researchers, country governments, and individuals interested in development finance with access to complete and high-quality information on aid activities worldwide. Through our combined effort, the PLAID and AiDA teams hope to increase effectiveness and transparency by providing easy access to aid information through a shared online source. AidData is committed to transparency in development finance, and will be free and accessible to the public through an easy to use web portal. AidData is currently in production and will be launched in spring 2010. To learn more about this new joint venture, click here.

PLAID Holds Data-Vetting Workshop

September 17-18, 2009 | Stimson Center, Washington, DC

Last week, the PLAID project hosted a successful data-vetting workshop at the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington, DC. Researchers and development practitioners from the U.S., Europe, and Africa provided the PLAID team with feedback on data quality in a beta version of the PLAID database. Further, the PLAID team demonstrated a preview version of what will soon be the public interface of the PLAID database. Several prominent scholars presented research based on the PLAID dataset. UVA’s David Leblang presented a paper entitled, “Knockin' on Heaven's Door: International Aid Flows and the Demand for Asylum,” Georgetown’s James Vreeland presented a paper entitled, “Buying influence at the IMF,” and Duke’s Sarah Bermeo presented a paper entitled, “The Curse of Aid? Re-Examining the Impact of Aid on Regime Change.” Stu Hamilton, of William and Mary’s Center for Geospatial Analysis, provided workshop participants with a taste of the sort of data visualizations that PLAID data can be used to produce (his presentation is available for download here). Hamilton compiled a number of these visuals into a time-lapse video:

Also during the conference, PLAID announced that the PLAID database will soon merge with Development Gateway's AiDA database to form a new database and website called the AidData portal. The Development Gateway website has more details on the merger. PLAID researchers at William and Mary, Brigham Young University, and Development Gateway are now working to address the issues raised by workshop participants and are eagerly anticipating the public launch of the database in March 2010.

Too Late for Latin America to Adapt?

May 2009 | By J. Timmons Roberts and Guy Edwards

Rainforests could dry up and die back; semi arid regions like the Brazilian Northeast and much of Central America risk becoming useless for agriculture; hurricanes and flooding increasingly pound Caribbean coasts and villages, leaving roads and bridges smashed in their wake. As the region warms, diseases carried by tropical insects spread to new areas. Urban smog and asthma are multiplied by heat waves.

PDF Version

PLAID on the Cover of Environment Magazine

January/February 2009 | "Has Foreign Aid Been Greened" By J. Timmons Roberts, Bradley Parks, Michael Tierney, and Robert Hicks

Since the first major international conference on environment and development in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972, environmentalists, voters, and policymakers in the developed world have faced a vexing dilemma: with some of the richest stores of biodiversity, natural resources, and carbon located in developing countries, the greatest potential for damage to the global environment resides in places outside the sovereign control of the countries most able, financially speaking, to prevent it...

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Overseas Development Institute Hosts PLAID Project for Discussion of 'Greening Aid?'

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008 1:00-2:15 p.m. | 111 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7JD

The Overseas Development Institute and the Oxford University Press hosted a discussion of the PLAID project's new book Greening Aid? Understanding the Environmental Impact of Development Assistance. The discussion featured co-authors J. Timmons Roberts and Bradley C. Parks. Other discussants included Camilla Toulmin, Director of the International Institute for Environment and Development, and Seán Doolan, Environmental Advisor for the Africa Division of the Department for International Development. The discussion was chaired by Neil Bird, a Research Fellow at the Forests, Environment, and Climate Change Program at ODI.

To read about and listen to audio from the event click here. View the event slides here.

Wilson Center Hosts PLAID Project for Discussion of 'Greening Aid?'

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 @3:00-5:00 p.m. | 1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, 6th Floor Auditorium

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Environmental Change and Security Program and the World Resources Institute hosted a discussion of the PLAID project's new book Greening Aid. The discussion featured co-authors J. Timmons Roberts, Michael J. Tierney, and Bradley C. Parks. The event also featured comments from Robert Goodland, former Environmental Advisor at the World Bank and opening remarks were provided by Manish Bapna, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, World Resources Institute.

The power point slides from the event are available here.

Greening Aid? Understanding the Environmental Impact of Development Assistance

By Robert L. Hicks, Bradley C. Parks, J. Timmons Roberts, Michael J. Tierney

Every year, billions of dollars of environmental aid flow from the rich governments of the North to the poor governments of the South. Why do donors provide this aid? What do they seek to achieve? How effective is the aid given? And does it always go to the places of greatest environmental need? All of these questions and many more are addressed in this groundbreaking text, which is based on the authors' work compiling the most comprehensive dataset of foreign aid ever assembled. Order Now