Key qualities of IATI data

By publishing data to the IATI Standard, you commit to providing information that’s accessible, useful and usable for a range of people and organisations, particularly in countries receiving aid.

• See, for example, how IATI data is being used by the Government of Madagascar.

Data users can include governments in countries receiving aid who want to make data-driven decisions, researchers, journalists, donors and members of the public looking at what their donations are going towards.

• For more information on who uses IATI data, see Who is IATI for?

For your data to be as useful as possible it needs to have certain qualities:

• timely – data is kept up-to-date and updated regularly
• comprehensive – data describes a significant amount of your activities
• forward-looking – data can be used for planning purposes
• structured – data is valid, in line with the IATI Standard schema and rules
• comparable – data can be linked across publishers through codelists and shared references
• open – data is appropriately licensed for reuse and hosted without barriers to access.

Here are things to consider around each key point and the benefits they bring.

What is ‘timely’ data?

By ‘timely’ data, we mean data that is:

• kept up to date – IATI data should reflect an organisation’s activities, including all new and upcoming work
• frequently updated – IATI data should be updated as often as possible by the publisher.

When data is timely, you are giving the most recent available information. There shouldn’t be a significant time gap between the period covered by your data and the activities you’re describing. You should provide new and refreshed data as often as possible, ideally monthly or quarterly.

You must maintain your transactions over time, don’t replace these with cumulative figures. While IATI transactions often represent aggregate amounts, retain these once published and don’t overwrite them in updates. Over time your IATI data becomes a historical record of your activities.

Benefit: Providing timely data means all IATI users can access up-to-date information. Retaining historical data enables users to more easily see changes and progress in development cooperation activities.

Making data ‘comprehensive’

To make your data comprehensive, aim for the following:

• accuracy – your IATI data should be represented in units of activity that reflect your work and are meaningful for the user
• coverage – your data should ideally cover all the development cooperation and humanitarian activities your organisation undertakes
• scope – your data should cover as many of the relevant fields outlined in the IATI Standard as possible.

Benefit: When IATI data is comprehensive, users get a fuller picture of the development cooperation and humanitarian activities happening in different parts of the world.

Ensuring data is ‘forward-looking’

Your IATI data should include all your current and upcoming activities, as well as those you’re planning to work on over the next 5 years. This can include planned budgets, countries you’re planning to work in and the type of work you want to carry out.

When providing forward-looking IATI data, bear in mind that budgets are not legally binding.

Benefit: When data is forward-looking, it enables governments of countries receiving aid and others to budget and plan more effectively.

‘Structuring’ data

IATI is a data standard that provides rules and guidance for how to structure your data, such as how to define the countries and sectors you are working in. To ensure your data is correctly structured, it must be:

• in the right format – all files must be written in the technical markup language IATI XML
• valid – your data must conform to the rules outlined in the IATI data standard. This can be checked by a validation tool.

Benefit: When IATI data is properly structured it can be more easily accessed, interpreted and used with other published IATI datasets.

Ensuring data is ‘comparable’

So your IATI data can be compared with that from other organisations, it should have the following qualities:

• coded – IATI data should use agreed codes to describe activities, such as countries, sectors and transaction types. See How to use IATI Reference for more information about the IATI data Standard and for the agreed codes and their descriptions.
• identifiable – when referring to yourself or external organisations, use the agreed unique code for that organisation. Include organisation names as well as their unique codes.
• traceable – your IATI data should refer to IATI data published by other organisations. This happens through detailing the funds you’ve provided and received from external organisations.

Benefit: When IATI data contains agreed codes, different datasets can be compared and analysed. When IATI data includes external organisations' unique codes, users can trace funds through the resource chain.

Making data ‘open’

Data is most useful when it’s open – meaning people can easily find, understand and use it. When publishing IATI data, you agree to your data being:

• registered – links to your data are on the IATI Registry
• accessible – there are no barriers or passwords to access your IATI data
• licensed – your IATI data is published under a relevant open licence so it can be freely used.

Benefit: When IATI data is linked to the IATI Registry, it’s easier to find and use. An open licence lets others use the information legally and with confidence.