International Aid Transparency Initiative Archives

Can AI solve open aid data’s access problem?

By Elma Jenkins and Alex Tilley | Jul 2, 2026 | Blog

For years, accessing raw aid data has required specialist skills – understanding data structures, writing queries, and interpreting complex reporting practices. That has created a reliance on “data intermediaries” to turn data into insights. Elma Jenkins and Alex Tilley have been testing whether AI agents could bridge that gap by querying raw IATI data directly. In this blog they set out their findings – the potential and reality of using AI to mine aid data.

An introduction to using international aid and development data

By Sam Cavenett | Feb 2, 2026 | Events

Learn how to find and explore data to answer your aid and development questions with our one-hour training session. It’s free and interactive.

Are donors delivering on local funding promises? Not yet.

By Henry Lewis | May 22, 2025 | Blog

Today, we are launching Metrics Matter III: Counting Local, the third instalment in our Metrics Matter research series tracking direct funding to local organisations. Our findings reveal that despite strong rhetoric, donor funding practices have yet to meaningfully reflect the localisation agenda.

Is FFD4 turning its back on aid transparency?

By Gary Forster | Mar 25, 2025 | Blog

As the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) takes shape, there is a concerning silence around aid transparency. At a time when transparency is more vital than ever – to ensure that scarce development finance is accountable, effective, and impactful -it appears to be falling off the agenda.

What can you learn about aid and development projects through D-Portal?

By Gary Forster | Sep 5, 2024 | Case studies

Gary Forster introduces the aid and development information that can be found on D-Portal – a gateway to the 800,000 projects in the International Aid transparency Initiative dataset. Using the example of investments made by the African Development Bank into water and sanitation projects in Zambia, Gary shows the wealth of information (such as objectives, partners, funding disbursements, and evaluation reports) that can be explored when agencies publish good data.

How and why does the Global Food and Nutrition Security Dashboard use aid data?

By Sam Cavenett | Jul 23, 2024 | Case studies

Zacharey Carmichael, Senior Economist in the World Bank’s Agriculture and Food Global Practice discusses how the Global Food and Nutrition Security Dashboard uses International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) data to support real-time emergency decision-making.