More municipality tender procedures exposed to misuse of funds

Tenders without any competition, lack of competition, deadlines favoring clientelism, and unjustified increased contract values. Monitoring of public procurement in the 61 municipalities of the country shows risk of corruption in 655 tenders, equivalent of 10% of the contracts. More than 60 procurement procedures were marked by a RedFlag in April only. AIS will soon publish the municipality corruption risk index. This is the result of an evaluation of more than ten thousand contracts signed in two years from the municipalities and ranked according to the RedFlag given for the problematic contracts in terms of their quantities and values.

Watchdog Program for Citizens to Report on 2017 elections in search of funds

Vote buying, violation of the right to vote, people with criminal records leading electoral teams, and misuse of public institutions. These phenomena are common in the electoral processes in Albania already signaled and reported in the 2013 and 2015 elections in the Citizen Monitoring Platform Za’Lart Albania. Such phenomena are also expected to occur in the 2017 elections. The project of our organization for electoral citizens’ monitoring, in the other hand, is not yet sufficiently financed for this watchdog process. Citizens have the right to raise their voice about electoral irregularities. AIS urges donors to take into consideration our request for fundraising. The Za’Lart (Raised Voice) Team urges also organizations engaged in building the democratic culture, embassies and other donors to provide financial support to this project.

Money and Power, what are the economic interests of District Chief Prosecutors

Data regarding assets and annual incomes of 22 District Chief Prosecutors were analyzed to identify their potential interests and economic connections. The prosecutors’ self-declarations are published under the Money and Power section, and the analysis is published as a separate article on Open Data AlbaniaSimilar analysis is done earlier for high-level judges, MPs andMayors The monitoring of their incomes and their comparison with their salaries, as well as the identification of any potential economic interests is important and timing on the eve of the ‘vetting’ process in the justice system. Money, Government and Politics is implemented by AIS in the framework of the MATRA for Rule of Law program supported by Embassy of the Netherlands in Albania

Money and Power, what are the economic interests of District Chief Prosecutors

Data regarding assets and annual incomes of 22 District Chief Prosecutors were analyzed to identify their potential interests and economic connections. The prosecutors’ self-declarations are published under the Money and Power section, and the analysis is published as a separate article on Open Data AlbaniaSimilar analysis is done earlier for high-level judges, MPs andMayors The monitoring of their incomes and their comparison with their salaries, as well as the identification of any potential economic interests is important and timing on the eve of the ‘vetting’ process in the justice system. Money, Government and Politics is implemented by AIS in the framework of the MATRA for Rule of Law program supported by Embassy of the Netherlands in Albania

Municipality of Divjaka cooperates with AIS on its transparency program for 2017

The Municipality of Divjaka in cooperation with AIS established Open Spending and Open Budget instruments. The budget tables for 2017 were visualized in an open data format, making it easier for everyone to trace, understand, and reuse information. In addition to its table of incomes and expenditures, the municipality visualised also its budget by its administrative units as part of its Transparency Program. Municipalities are required by law to develop their Budget Transparency Programs. PLGP/USAID Albania in cooperation with AIS had already provided the municipalities of Korça, Elbasan, Fier, Lushnjë, Berat, and Kuçova with instruments for open expenditures and budgeting.

Get Online Week 2017 në Shqipëri.

Fuqizohu; Punësohu

Instituti Shqiptar i Shkencave – AIS si pjesë e network Telecentre Europe ka startuar në Shqipëri fushatën Get Online Week/ Java e Internetit. Ky event mbahet ne datat 27 Mars deri 2 Prill në mbarë Europën. Qëllimi është të nxitet aftësimi në internet. Në Europë tregu i punës kërkon çdo ditë me mijëra profesionist që njohin internetin dhe teknologjinë. Por ndërsa kërkesa për punë me pagesë të mirë është e kënaqshme, njerëzit që kanë aftësi të punojnë janë më pak se kërkesa.

Në vitin 2020 në BE parashikohet të ketë mbi 900 mijë vende pune në sektorët IT dhe ICT për të cilët nuk do të ketë profesionist të mjaftueshëm në numër.

Kjo Javë Promovuese synon ti nxis Europianët të Fuqizohen dhe Përfshihen në këtë treg pune. Mjeti është aftësimi. 20% e Europianëve nuk janë përdorues të internetit. 39% e forcave të punës nuk janë të aftësuar në përdorimin e teknologjisë. Rrjeti Telecenter Europe po punon gjatë kësaj jave përmes 26 partnerëve kombëtar dhe 46 partnerëve lokal me synimin përfshirjen dhe aftësimin e rreth 72 mijë qytetarëve të Europës.

Në Shqipëri kjo javë do të shënojë trajnimin e të rinjve; aplikimin e një sondazhi që ndihmon të kuptojë sa e përdorin internetin grup moshat e ndryshme si dhe evente mediatike që promovojnë aftësimin profesional në teknologjinë e informacionit.

HackaThon Albania 2017

Albanian Institute of Science – AIS together with The Embassy of the Netherlands in Albania is hosting HackaThon 2017 on 25th of March. Hackathon is a casual meeting, where we collaborate as a team in writing applications, downloading data, creating visualizations or publishing analysis by using the open data. Representatives from civil society organizations, journalists, programmers, hackers, social entrepreneurs or students can participate. The most important thing is that you are committed to the challenge.

Mixed teams of 3 or 4 people will work together in a day-long session to develop ways to use open data in order to help strengthen civil society advocacy. The team with the best idea will win the HackaThon Albania Award, a cheque of 500 euros.

HackaThon Agenda:

Selected Participants: 

No Name
1 Adela Kadiasi
2 Ana Zacharian
3 Andi Bora
4 Ani Shtylla
5 Anisa Zace
6 Anxhela Bruci
7 Arnisa Lushaj
8 Benard Neza
9 Besfort Lamallari
10 Besmir Karaxha
11 Bledar Mahmuti
12 Blerta Thaci
13 Blinera Meta Shala
14 Brixhilda Imeri
15 Dafina Olluri
16 Dizi Brahimaj
17 Eneida Ibrahimi
18 Feride Adili
19 Festim Peposhi
20 Gent Imeraj
21 Gentiana Lacka
22 Henri Jaupaj
23 Ildi Xhaferri
24 Inva Hasanaliaj
25 Irisi Brici
26 Joana Hoxha
27 Jonito Bregasi
28 Jusild Kadri
29 Klajdi Qafzezi
30 Klaudja Karabolli
31 Klevis Paloka
32 Kosovare Sahatqija
33 Krist Cunga
34 Leo Tervoli
35 Leonard Selaj
36 Lindita Sotiri
37 Malba Kurtulla
38 Markelian Vishe
39 Merilin Tota
40 Mersi Shehu
41 Saimir Musta
42 Shefiko Hajna
43 Timonela Fani
44 Valbona Brahaj
45 Xhulia Shypheja
46 Zana Ramadanaj

Keep in mind you have to be able to be present for the entire event and participate very actively.

Open Data Day 2017, Justice Journalists against the Decision of Tirana Court for non-publication of the Criminal Decisions.

March 4th, 2017 is the OpenDataDay. Actors engaged in opening data in different countries in the world have developed events and presented initiatives promoting Open Data mainly for the public sector. AIS, an organization promoting Open Data for Albania, invited journalists, who cover justice-related issues, to attend a round table on transparency and corruption. The event was opened by the presentation of the RedFlag Index initiative, a way of marking municipality procurement processes exposed to inequality, misuse, and corruption. Following two years of monitoring the tender procedures and contracting of 61 municipalities and the establishment of a database for every procurement procedure, such marking identifies automatically every procedure conducted without competition, and by setting inappropriate deadlines for the bidders to prepare their bids.

The justice journalists at the meeting raised their concern about Tirana Judicial District Court not publishing its criminal cases and decisions thereof on its web. After 12 years of a practice of transparency established by this court, it suddenly decided to stop giving the public access to the court decisions. Such measure was taken following some complaints about the publication of decisions of a private and family character. The Court decided, on this occasion, to stop publishing even decisions of a public and criminal nature, and information necessary for transparency. The journalists have already reported on this development, and expect the Court to issue a media release on March 6th.