Fighting Corruption in Emergency Procurement through Big Data

In this book of contributed chapters, we delve into the pivotal issue of adapting corruption risk assessment systems to emergency scenarios.
Corruption poses formidable challenges to the advancement and stability of nations worldwide. As societies confront the complex nature of corruption, the need to employ innovative and efficient strategies to combat it becomes increasingly evident. During periods of crisis, conditions become ripe for corruption due to relaxed regulatory frameworks, reduced oversight, and a surge in financial activities.
Among various sectors, public procurement systems are particularly vulnerable to corruption risks during emergencies, given their frontline role in many countries' crisis responses.
As crises escalate in frequency and magnitude, it becomes increasingly clear that fostering a culture of preparedness, investing in mitigation measures, and devising proactive strategies to contain their detrimental impacts through new and realistic risk interaction models are all critical components of societal resilience. Similarly, corruption risk assessment systems designed to identify corruption risks in public procurement during normal periods must undergo adaptation to effectively devise solutions for mitigating and preventing corruption risks during emergencies.
Throughout the book, the discussion revolves around the CO.R.E. project - COrruption Risk Indicators in Emergencies. This project, funded under the EU Internal Security Fund Police (ISF-P) program in 2019, aimed to enhance early detection of corruption risks through big data techniques and to establish a stronger evidence base for policy reform in emergency scenarios. The project served anti-corruption authorities, law enforcement agencies, journalists, and the general public for accountability objectives. CO.R.E. was a technologically advanced project leveraging sophisticated data-driven approaches and harnessing the power of big data to effectively address and counteract corruption in the public procurement cycle during times of crises.

Michela Gnaldi is Associate professor of Applied Statistics at the Department of Political Sciences of the University of Perugia. She is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the CO.R.E. project, and has been consultant of the Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority and of other national and international agencies (i.e., UNHCR, World Bank). Since 2016, she leads a thematic area within the Italian Association for Quality of Life (AIQUAV) on Contrast to corruption, social integrity and quality of life. She is member of the steering committee of the University of Perugia inter-departmental Centre of studies and advanced education on Legality and Participation (LEPA). She is the official representative of the University of Perugia within the ECPR - European Consortium for Political Research - and its standing group on (Anti) Corruption and Integrity.