We believe that development data is critical for transparency and accountability, and we're committed to making practitioners' work easier. That's why we're excited to announce one-click exporting of DevResults data in the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) format. The XML file that's generated can be published to the IATI Repository, used for reporting to funders, or shared with other organizations.
1 Why is this important?
IATI was created to help aid organizations to say where their money is going to, who is implementing their programs, and what they are accomplishing. IATI maintains a set of XML standards that provide a common language, so that aid information from different actors can be aggregated and analyzed.
All of the world's major donors have agreed to publish their data in IATI format, and in turn many of them require organizations that they fund to report back to them in IATI format. There are also organizations that aren't required to publish their data, but do so because they believe it's the right thing to do.
We're very excited about IATI here at DevResults, and we strongly believe that it's the future of accountability and transparency in the field of global development. Our ambition is for DevResults to become an end-to-end solution for IATI reporting: Rather than using one system for collecting data and managing projects and another for entering IATI data, DevResults gives you a single tool that does it all.
2 What's supported
Our initial release includes all fields required by the IATI standard. In the near future, we'll be finding ways to map more information that is captured in DevResults into this format; and we'll also be creating new functionality within DevResults to support other elements of the standard.
Single activity, single reporting period export
We've added a new download button to the Activity Reporting Period screen where you typically upload and download excel templates that will allow users to download an IATI xml document for a single reporting period for a single activity.
Single reporting period, multiple activities export
A new export button has been added to the Reporting Period Details screen that allows users to generate exports for all activities assigned to that reporting period.
3 Who can export data
For the initial few months, this feature will only be accessible to users who have been granted the Owner role while we gather feedback.
4 What the future holds for IATI and DevResults
This initial release is focused on exporting basic data. Going forward, we are committed to improving both our support for IATI by integrating it into every corner of the app, as well as improving the standard itself. These improvements will be heavily influenced by our users, so please send us your suggestions as we continue to shape the functionality.
Final thoughts
We're excited to add support for the IATI standard and we look forward to working with our users and their partners to push forward transparency and collaboration. We're really looking for your feedback to improve this feature moving forward.
For detailed instructions on configuring your site for IATI export and using this functionality, see our IATI export help page.