What does the deputy mayor of a small town in northwestern Albania have in common with a 20-year old engineering student from North Macedonia? They’re both invested in creating tech tools to counter corruption in their home countries. Both are also participants in the Balkan edition of Hackcorruption, an AL initiative that aims to combat corruption globally by stimulating the innovative use of technology to address accountability gaps and build systemic integrity.

At the top of a week of exploration of and support of the civic tech landscape in the Balkans, Accountability Lab and our partners the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and Development Gateway gathered a cross-section of the Albanian public to tease out ideas on how tech can be used effectively and supportively to combat governance challenges. 

With the support of OpenGovHub Albania, Development Gateway held a roundtable discussion which brought journalists, academics, public servants, technologists, lawyers and more together to talk about their experiences of and recommendations for the application of tech for good in the country. Through robust discussions about what it might take to scale up anticorruption tech tools in the country, while also considering the potential risks of technology solutions, participants agreed that tech was no silver bullet to solve a myriad of corruption challenges, but can be very effective in supporting already existing plans to curb them. For those dedicated to making systems more just, efficient, equitable and transparent, such tools can make all the difference.

CIPE also hosted business leaders in Tirana, to open up a conversation on how to use tech to move business integrity forward in Albania and in the region.

These were timeous discussions, as Albania had just launched a new anti-corruption strategy to promote greater transparency and accountability.  The government’s cross-sectoral strategy also addresses, for the first time, how businesses can ensure clean practices.

Some of the recommendations from these discussions included:

• The potential use of technology to incentivize good behavior by companies – Through registers or certification schemes, companies which have a proven track record on a particular integrity question can be awarded recognition of that. can then be integrated into a government public procurement scheme to strengthen their reputation and encourage companies to act well. If well integrated and monitored, part of the incentive could be to fast track those companies’ applications for their applications for public procurement opportunities.
• The need to de-risk investment in technology – Rolling out a type of technology is just the start. To reduce failure, it is vital that systems are regularly audited to ensure they are the right solutions and delivering what was promised.
• In cases where illegal construction has taken place without permissions, using satellite imagery such as Google Maps to track when construction began is a free and easy way to gather evidence in such cases.

With these ideas swirling, began a weekend with five teams working to sharpen their anti-corruption tech tools. A month earlier, these teams had been selected from a much larger group as those with the most feasible ideas, and were back to have their ideas further poked, prodded and tested. 

Deputy mayor of Fushe-Arrez Mikel Qafa and engineering student Elena Karchika are both working in teams focused on countering corruption in energy technology. Mikel’s team “Green Funds Transparency” is working on a tool to monitor the financial flows of funds meant for climate and environmental development. Elena’s team “Terra” wants to ensure that land that is either protected or meant for agriculture in North Macedonia is not being used for energy infrastructure. Another team’s “AI Corruption Tracker” will monitor conflicts of interest and flagging false declarations in Kosovo, while “Balkan Corruption Insider” aims to uncover transnational corruption especially related to procurement. The “Judiciary Intelligence Platform” is looking to enhance transparency, accountability and public trust in North Macedonia’s judicial system.

“Working directly on a project aimed at tackling corruption in climate related funds for Albania allowed me to advocate for marginalized and underrepresented voices, ensuring their concerns were heard and addressed,” said Green Funds’ Anxhela Bruci

With every session over the weekend-long bootcamp – and support from mentors in the field– ideas went from feasible to viable.

“HackCorruption pushed us to think creatively and use technology to address corruption in the Balkans, emphasizing its importance in bringing innovative solutions,” said Terra’s Endri Mykaj.

Whether countering green finance corruption or preferential treatment in public procurement teams were asked; what data will you use? who would use the tool you’ll eventually build? what platforms would work best?, and how sustainable are your ideas? 

These considerations will go a long way over the next five months as participants wrangle their ideas into milestones of meeting stakeholders, building their tools, and making sure they grow to support civil society, journalists, government agencies and citizens at large.

“Collaborating with changemakers from across the Balkans to tackle corruption challenges allowed me to develop innovative solutions, refine ideas with expert mentors, and work towards impactful change. The event was a testament to the power of teamwork and technology in promoting transparency and accountability,” said AI Corruption Tracker’s Lavdim Menxhiqi.

Samina Anwary