If you haven’t looked at the Foreign Assistance Dashboard lately, I’d suggest you do so. The government’s online platform and (eventual) one-stop-shop for storing and visualizing US aid data has some new features. There are new displays of existing data, plus the first set of USAID and MCC quarterly financial data. These tweaks and more timely information are a step in the right direction, but more US federal agencies need to leap onboard and start adding their data to the mix.
Launched in December 2010, the Foreign Assistance Dashboard is intended to serve as the clearinghouse for all US foreign assistance data. State Department’s F Bureau is in charge of coordinating, collecting, coding, and visualizing data from all 22+ agencies that disburse aid—no small feat. And while the project is still a work in progress, kudos to State for continuing to upgrade the site.
Here’s the list of new features:
- Improved infographics on how funding from the primary foreign aid agencies (State, USAID, and MCC) is budgeted, obligated, and spent by sector (new version, old version).
- An upgraded FAQ page adding some visual and organizational coherence to the long list of commonly asked questions on US foreign assistance (new version, old version).
- Quick links to important policy documents on the United States’ commitment to aid transparency (new version, old version).
- Data details on which agencies have what kinds of data published for what years(new version, old version).
[caption]Old Version[/caption]
[caption]New Version[/caption]
Beyond the new visuals, the Dashboard also incorporated its first quarterly update of FY2013 data from USAID and MCC. Last fall the White House issued OMB guidance requiring agencies to report aid data to the Dashboard on a quarterly basis (see pg. 5 section 3.2). USAID and MCC are the first to provide up-to-date data on their first quarter FY2013 obligations and disbursements as they currently stand. Bravo!
While the Dashboard information is still limited to financial data, the “timeliness” of the quarterly updates is important so users can track, throughout the year, how agencies allocate assistance. The challenge, of course, is that quarterly data from just two agencies doesn’t paint a complete picture of where and how the United States gives aid. I hope, though, that while USAID and MCC are leading the way, that other agency updates will soon follow. Perhaps Treasury or Department of Defense will be next? Even State?
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