Information technologies for countering corruption: analysis of the Costa Rican public procurement system

Abstract

Corruption has disastrous consequences for the well-being of societies. In particular, public procurement is a highly vulnerable factor due to the high value of its transactions. This research analyzes the role that information technologies can play in the fight against corruption. We developed a case based on open data on public procurement in Costa Rica to identify the main concepts associated with the underlying information system. The case shows the potential of technological tools for social network analysis to counter the complexity of corruption networks. It also shows the need for a rich ecosystem of anti-corruption data – preferably in an open format.